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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


// 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


■  so    "^ 


IM 

2.2 


IM 


I.     ^ 

Uuu 


M 

1.8 


U    11.6 


Photogiapiiic 

Sdences 
Corporation 


a  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  873-4503 


P'/y 


1^ 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
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microfiches. 


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D 


n 


D 
D 


n 


n 


Coloured  covers/ 
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I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagde 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
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y 

12X 

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»x 

24X 

28X 

32X 

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filmage. 


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or  illustrated  impiession. 


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dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
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empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  —»>  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED ").  or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END  "). 
whichever  applies. 


Un  das  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  — ^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  tc  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  caiTtes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmds  d  des  taux  de  r6duction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  §tre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichd,  il  est  filmd  d  partir 
de  I'angle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  riaut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1  2  3 

4  5  6 


r- 


t- 


■t 


LIFE 


^ 


OF 


MA-KA-TAI-ME-SHE-KIA-KIAK 


OR 


BLACK    HAWK, 


*f  A 


EMBRACING    THE 


TRADITION    OF    HIS    NATION — INDIAN     WARS     JN    WHJCH     HE     HAS 
BEEN    ENGAGED — CAUSE  OF    JOINING    THE    BRITISH    IN    THEIR 
liATE     WAR    WITH    AMERICA,    AND     ITS     HISTORY — DE- 
SCRIPTION   OF    THE    ROCK-RiVER  VILLAG.^ — BTAN- 
NER3    AND  CUSTOMS — ENCROACHMENTS    BY 
THE   WHITES,  CONTRARY   TO    TREA- 
TY— REMOVAL     FROM     HIS 
VILLAGE    IN    1831. 

WITH    AN  .  ^ 

ACCOUNT  OF  THE  CAUSE  AND  GENERAL  HISTORY 

OF  THE  ^K 

LATE    WAR, 

HIS  yv 

SURRENDER  AND  CONFINEMENT  AT  JEFFERSON  BARRACKS) 

AND 

TRAVELS  THROUGH  THE  UNITKD  STATES. 


«  » 


i!y 


'M, 


■ 


DICTATED    BY    HIMSELF. 


J.  B.  Patterson,  of  Rock  Island,  Dl.  Editor  and  Proprietor. 


BOSTON: 

*  RUSSELL,  ODIORNE  &  METCALF. 

NEW  YORK :  MONSON  BANCROFT.-PmLASELPHIA  x  MARSSALLt  CLABK  * H?1V-  ^.• 

BALTIMORE:  JOS.  JE W£TT.-.MOBIIiE i  SIDNEY  SMITO. 


..-*- 


1834. 


'         »        • 


DISTRICT  OF  ILLINOIS,  ss  : 

Bk  it  remembered,  that  on  this  sixteenth  day  of  November,  Anno 
Domini  eighteen  liundred  and  dnrty-thrce,  J.  JJ.  Patterson,  of  said 
district,  hath  deposited  in  this  oflice  tlie  title  of  a  Rook,  the  title  of  which 
is  in  the  words  following,  to  wit : 

*'  Life  of  Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak  or  Black  Hawk,  embracing  tlie 
Tradition  of  his  Nation — Indian  Wars  in  which  he  has  been  engaged- 
Cause  of  joining  the  British  in  their  late  War  with  America,  and  its  His- 
tory— Description  of  the  Rock-River  Village— Manners  and  Customs- 
Encroachments  by  the  Wliiles,  contrary  to  Treaty — Removal  from  his 
Village  in  1831,  With  an  Account  of  the  Cause  and  General  History  of 
tlie  Late  War,  his  Surrender  and  Confinement  at  Jefferson  Barracks, 
and  Travels  through  the  United  States.  Dictated  by  himself."  J.  B. 
Patterson  of  Rock  Island,  III.  Editor  and  Proprietor. 

The  right  whereof  he  claims  as  author,  in  conformity  with  an  act  of 
Congress,  entitled  "  An  act  to  amend  the  several  acts  respecting  copy 
rifirhts  " 

W.  H.  BROWN,  Clerk 

of  the  District  of  Illinois. 


f0/} 


^ 


GBAIkLES  GORDON  GREENE,  Printer, 
,    U  Water  Streeu 


'.■ir.— 


^16 


'  ^' 


'  ■!S 


\       1 


INDIAN  AGENCY, 

Rock-Island,  October  16,  1833. 

I  DO  HEREBY  CERTIFY,  that  Ma-ka-tai-me-shc-kia- 
kiak,  or  Black  Hawk,  did  call  upon  me,  on  his  re- 
turn to  his  people  in  August  last,  and  express  a 
great  desire  to  have  a  History  of  his  Life  written 
and  published,  in  order,  (as  he  said)  ''  that  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States,  (among  whom  lie  had 
been  travelling,  and  by  whom  he  had  been  treated 
with  great  respect,  friendship  and  hospitality,) 
miglit  know  the  causes  that  had  impelled  him  to  act 
as  he  has  done,  and  the  principles  by  which  he  was 
governed.'-  In  accordance  with  his  request,  I  acted 
as  Interpreter ;  and  was  particularly  cautious,  to 
understand  distinctly  the  narrative  of  Black  Hawk 
throughout — and  have  examined  the  work  carefully, 
since  its  completion — and  have  no  hesitation  in 
pronouncing  it  strictly  correct,  in  all  its  particulars. 

Given  under  my  hand,  at  the  Sac  and  Fox 
Agency,  the  day  and  date  above  written. 

ANTOINE  LECLAIR, 
U,  S.  Interpreter  for  the  Sacs  and  Foxes:- 


\i 


■d,t:  i 


'  m 


1 


'<  ,.':-;'iJiB 


V  ! 


'jf.. 


¥1^ 


■i^. 


fipt 


INE-KA-NA-WEN. 


MA-NE-SE-NO   OKE-MAUT   WAP-PI    MA-QUAI. 


Wa-ta-sai    we-yeu, 

Ai  nan-ni  ta  co-si-ya-quai,  na-katch  ai  she-ke 
she-he-nack,  liai-ine-ka-ti  ya-quai  ke-she-he-nackj 
ken-e-cha  we-he-ke  kai-pec-kien  a-cob,  ai  we-ne-she 
we-he-yen ;  ne-wai-ta-sa-mak  ke-kosh-pe  kai-a-poi 
qui-wat.  No-ta-wach-pai  pai-ke  se-na-mon  nan-ni- 
yoo,  ai-ke-kai  na-o-pen.  Ni-me-to  sai-ne-ni-wen, 
ne-ta-to-ta  ken  ai  mo-he-man  ta-ta-que,  ne-me-to- 
sai-ne-ne-wen. 

Nin-a-kai-ka   poi-pon-ni    chi-cha-yen,  kai-ka-ya 
ha-ma-we  pa-she-to-he-yen.    Kai-na-ya  kai-nen-ne-  ' 
naip,  he-nok  ki-nok  ke-cha-kai-ya,  pai-no-yen  ««- 
ket-te-sim-mak  o-ke-te-wak  ke-o-che,  me-ka  ti-ya*  ,.,  .^ 
quois   na-kach   mai-quoij  a-que-qui  pa-che^ui  ke- 
kan-ni  ta-men-nin.     Ke-to-ta  we-yen,  a-que-k^-lli*^' 
co-te    sbe-tai-hai  yen-nen,  chai-cha-me-co  kai-ke- 
me-se  ai  we-ke  ken-ne-ta-mo-wat,  kenrna^w&^ha^o 
ma-co-qua-yeai-quoi.  Ken-wen-na  ak-che-man  wen^ 
ni-ta-hai  ke-men-ne  to-ta-we-yeu,  ke-kog-hai  ke«-ta- 
shi  ke-kai  na-we-yen,  he-na-cha  wai-che-we  tb^mo- 
nan,  ai  pe-che-qiia-chi  mo-pen  ma-me-c^^^lpjll^he- 
we-ta  na-mo-nan,  ne-ya-we-nan  qui-a'^U^ra  jpe^ta* 

1*  -,„v-., .- "..'V; 


%,-   s' 


h 


i\S.f- 


NE-KA-NA-WEN. 


kck,  a-quc-ycar  tak-pa-shc-qui  a-to-t;i-mo-wat,  clii- 
ye-tuk  lie-nc  cha-wui-clii  he-ni-nan  ke-o-chi-ta  mow- 
ta-swce-pai  che-qua-que. 

He-ni-cha-hai  poi-kai-nen  na-na-so-si-yen,  aio-sa- 
kcwe-ycn,  kc-pc-me-kai-mi-kat  hai-nen  hac-yai 
na-na-co-si-peu,  ncn-a-kai-ne-co-ten  ne-co-ten  ne- 
ka  chi-a-quoi  nc-mc-cok  me-to-sai  ne-nc  wak-kai 
ne-we-yen-nen,  kai-shai  ma-ni-to-kc  ka-to-me-nak 
ke-wa-sai  he-co-wai  mi-a-me*  ka-chi  pai-ko-tai-hear- 
pe  kai-cee  wa-wa-kia  he-pc  lia-pe-nach-he-cha,  na- 
na-ke.na-way  ni-taain  ai  we-pa-lie-wea  to-to-na  ca, 
ke-to-ta-we-yeak,  he-nok  mia-ni  ai  she-kc-ta  ma-ke- 
si-yen,  nen-a-kai  n:\-co-ten  ne-ka-he-nen  e-ta-quois, 
wa-toi-na-ka  che-ma-ke-keu  na-ta-che  tai-hai-ken 
ai  mn-co-man  ye-we-yeu  ke-to-towe.  E-nok  ma- 
ni-hai  she-ka-ta-ma  ka-si-yen,  wen-e-cha-hai  nai-ne- 
mak,  mai-ko-ten  ke-ka-cha  ma-men-na-tuk  we-yowe, 
keu-ke-nok  ai  she-me  ma-na-ni  ta-men-ke-yowe. 

MA-KA-TAI-ME-SHE-KIA-KIAK. 

-t^us-we  Ki-sis,  1833. 


t 


j.lffv 


-stec^. 


[translation.] 


DEDICATION. 


1 


TO    BRIGADIER   GEN'L.    H.    ATKINSON. 

Sir, — The  changes  of  fortune,  and  vicissituc'es 
of  war,  made  you  my  conqueror.  When  my  last 
resources  were  exhausted,  my  warriors  worn  down 
with  long  and  toilsome  marches,  we  yielded,  and  I 
became  your  j)risoner. 

The  story  of  my  life  is  told  in  the  following  pages ; 
it  is  intimately  connected,  and  in  some  measure, 
identified  with  a  part  of  the  history  of  your  own  :  I 
have,  therefore,  dedicated  it  to  you. 

The  changes  of  many  summers,  have  brought  ^d  | 
age  upon  me, — and  I  cannot  expect  to  survil^ 
many  moons.  Befbre  I  set  out  on  my  journey  to 
the  land  of  my  fathers,  I  have  determined  to  give 
my  motives  and  reasons  for  my  former  hostilities  to 
the  whites,  and  to  vindicate  my  character  from  flrilf^ 
representation.  The  kindness  I  received  froii|-y^ 
whilst  a  prisoner  of  war,  assures  me  that  j'Oll  |riU 


I, . 


i. 


1  'Vi  -^3^-  '     : 


8 


DEDICATION. 


IJi. 


l-i: 


n. 


vouch  for  the  facts  coutain(Hl  in  my  narrative,  so  fai* 
as  they  caiuc  under  your  observation. 

I  am  now  an  obscure  member  of  a  nation,  that 
formerly  honored  aju<l  respected  my  opinions.  The 
path  to  glory  is  rough,  and  many  gloomy  hours 
obscure  it.  May  the  Great  Spirit  shed  light  on 
your's — and  that  you  may  never  experience  the 
Immility  that  the  power  of  the  American  govern- 
ment has  reduced  me  to.  is  the  wish  of  him,  who, 
in  his  native  forests,  was  once  as  proud  and  bold  as 
yourself. 

BLACK  HAWK. 
loth  Moon,  1833. 


^. 


;<iif-f':\ 


mM4'*^ 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


H-' 


i 
i 


It  is  presumed  no  apology  will  be  required  for 
presenting  to  the  public,  the  life  of  a  Hero  who  has 
lately  taken  such  high  rank  among  tiie  distinguished 
individuals  of  America.  In  the  follov/ing  pages  he 
will  be  seen  in  the  characters  of  a  Warrior,  a  Patriot 
and  a  State-prisoner — ^in  every  situation  he  is  still  the 
Chief  of  his  Band,  asserting  their  rights  with  dignity, 
firmness  and  courage.  Several  accounts  of  the 
late  war  having  been  published,  in  which  he  thinks 
justice  is  not  done  to  himself  or  nation,  he  deter- 
mined to  make  known  to  the  world,  the  injuries  his 
people  have  received  from  the  whites — the  causes 
which  brought  on  the  war  on  the  part  of  his  nation, 
and  a  general  history  of  it  throughout  the  campaigiu 
In  his  opinion,  this  is  the  only  method  now  left  him, 
to  rescue  his  little  Band— the  remnant  of  those  who 


M 


f 


'  . 


M 


.•"■Mi; 


■^r-^ 


U 


i^4MK 


^n#^,i»^iA 


10 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


1     ^ 
i  '' 


I. 


'  •'>-. 
•j:>. 


E   '^ 


It     ^f 


fought  bravely  with  him — from  the  effects  of  the 
stateme  Its  that  have  ahcady  gone  forth. 

The  facts  which  he  states,  respecting  the  Treaty 
of  1804,  in  virtue  of  the  provisions  of  which  Govern- 
ment claimed  the  country  in  dispute,  and  enforced 
its  arguments  with  the  sword,  are  worthy  of  atten- 
tion. It  purported  to  cede  to  the  United  States,  all 
the  country,  including  the  village  and  corn-fields 
of  Black  Hawk  and  his  band,  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Mississippi.  Four  individuals  of  the  tribe,  who 
were  on  a  visit  to  St.  Louis  to  obtain  the  liberation 
of  one  of  their  people  from  prison,  were  prevailed 
upon,  (says  Black  Hawk,)  to  make  this  important 
treaty,  without  the  knowledge  or  authority  of  the 
tribes^  or  nation. 

h\  treating  with  the  Indians  for  their  country,  it 
has  always  been  customary  to  assemble  the  whole 
imtion ;  because,  as  has  been  truly  suggested  by  the 
Secretary  of  War,  the  nature  of  the  authority  of  the 
€hi(bfs  of  a  tribe  is  such,  that  it  is  not  often  that  they 
dare  make  a  treaty  of  much  consequence, — and  we 
might  add,  never,  when  involving  so  much  magnitude 


as  I 
of  I 

OUJ 

wei 

tli( 

its 


^% 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


11 


as  the  one  under  consideration,  vvitliout  the  presence 
of  their  young  men.  A  rule  so  reasonable  and  just 
ought  never  to  be  violated — and  the  Indians  might 
well  question  the  right  of  Government  to  dispossess 
them,  when  such  violation  was  made  the  basis  of 
its  right. 

The  Editor  has  written  this  work  according  to 
the  dictation  of  Black  Hawk,  through  the  United 
States'  Interpreter,  at  the  Sac  and  Fox  Agency  of 
Rock  Island.  He  does  not,  therefore,  consider  him- 
self responsible  for  any  of  the  facts,  or  views,  con- 
tained in  it — and  leaves  the  old  Chief  and  his  story 
with  the  public,  whilst  he  neither  asks,  nor  expects, 
any  fame  for  his  services  as  an  amanuensis. 


THE  editor; 


p 


•i! 


f. 


'I 


* '% 


'■ .    .'■^- 


f 


§: 


«: 


■.#^#R»--x,.fi^^ 


LIFE   OF  BLACK  HAWK. 


('. , 


:|: 


I  WAS  born  at  the  Sac  Village,  on  Rock  river,  in 
the  year  1767,  and  am  now  in  my  67th  year.  My 
great  grandfather,  Na-na-ma-kee,  or  Thunder,  (ac- 
cording to  the  tradition  given  me  by  my  father,  Py-e- 
sa,)  was  born  in  the  vicinity  of  Montreal,  where  the 
Great  Spirit  first  placed  the  Sac  Nation,  and  inspired 
him  with  a  belief  that,  at  the  end  of  four  years,  he 
should  see  a  white  maUy  who  would  be  to  him  a  fa- 
ther. Consequently  he  blacked  his  face,  and  eat  but 
once  a  day,  (just  as  the  sun  was  going  down,)  for 
three  years,  and  continued  dreaming  throughout  f^ 
this  time  whenever  he  slept ; — ^when  the  Great  Spirit 
again  appeared  to  him,  and  told  him,  that,  at  the  end 
of  one  year  more,  he  should  meet  his  father,— and  di-. 
rected  him  to  start  seven  days  before  its  expiration, 
and  take  with  him  his  two  brothers,  JVa-^mah,  or  Stur* 
geon,  and  PavrJca-hum-ma-wa,  or  Sun  Fish,  and  travel 
in  a  direction  to  the  left  of  sun-rising.  After  pWvA^ 
this  course  five  days,  he  sent  out  his  two  brotbers  tii 


3, 

i' 
V, 


T 


14 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


i'i 


listen  if  they  could  hear  a  noise,  and  if  so,  to  fasten 
some  grass  to  the  end  of  a  pole,  erect  it,  pointing  in 
the  direction  of  the  sound,  and  then  return  to  him. 

Early  next  morning,  they  returned,  and  reported 
that  they  had  heard  sounds  which  appeared  near  at 
hand,  and  that  they  had  fulfilled  his  order.  They 
all  then  started  for  the  place  where  the  pole  had  been 
erected ;  when,  on  reaching  it,  Na-ni-ma-kee  left  his 
party,  and  went,  alone,  to  the  place  from  whence  the 
sounds  proceeded,  and  found  that  the  white  man  had 
arrived  and  pitched  his  tent.  When  he  came  in 
sight,  his  father  came  out  to  meet  him.  He  took  him 
by  the  hand,  and  welcomed  him  into  his  tent.  He 
told  him  that  he  was  the  son  of  the  King  of  France — 
that  he  had  been  dreaming  for  four  years — that  the 
Great  Spirit  had  directed  him  to  come  here,  where  he 
should  meet  a  nation  of  people  who  had  never  yet 
seen  a  white  man — that  they  should  be  his  children, 
and  he  should  be  their  father — that  he  had  communi- 
cated these  things  to  the  King,  his  father,  who  laugh- 
ed at  him,  and  called  him  a  Ma-she-na — but  he  insist- 
ed on  coming  here  to  meet  his  children,  where  the 
Great  Spirit  had  directed  him.  The  King  told  him 
that  he  would  neither  find  land  nor  people — that  this 
was  an  uninhabited  region  of  lakes  and  mountains ; 
but,  finding  that  he  would  have  no  peace  without  it,  fit- 
ted out  a  na-pe-qua,  manned  it,  and  gave  it  to  him  in 
charge,  when  he  immediately  loaded  it,  set  sail,  and 
had  now  landed  on  the  very  day  that  the  Great  Spirit 
had  told  him,  in  his  dreams,  he  should  meet  his  chil- 


dre 
turl 


( 


V^.-'^s^ 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


15 


dren.  He  had  now  met  the  man  who  should,  in  fu- 
ture, have  charge  of  all  the  nation. 

He  then  presented  him  with  a  medal,  which  he 
hung  round  his  neck.  Na-na-ma-kee  informed  him 
of  Ids  dreaming, — and  told  him  that  his  two  brothers 
remained  a  little  ways  behind.  His  father  gave  him 
a  shirt,  blanket,  and  handkerchief,  besides  a  variety 
of  presents,  and  told  him  to  go  and  bring  his  brothers. 
Having  laid  aside  his  buffalo  robe,  and  dressed  him- 
self in  his  new  dress,  he  started  to  meet  his  brethren. 
When  they  met,  he  explained  to  them  his  meeting 
with  the  white  man,  and  exhibited  to  their  view  the 
presents  that  he  had  made  him — took  off  his  medal, 
and  placed  it  upon  Nah-ma,  his  elder  brother,  and  re- 
quested them  both  to  go  with  him  to  his  father.  • 

They  proceeded  thither, — were  ushered  into  the 
tent,  and,  after  some  brief  ceremony,  his  father  opened 
his  chest  and  took  presents  therefrom  for  the  new- 
comers. He  discovered  that  Na-na-ma-kee  had  given 
his  medal  to  Nah-ma.  He  told  him  that  he  had  done 
wrong — he  should  wear  that  medal  himself,  as  he  had 
others  for  his  brethren :  That  which  he  had  given  him 
was  a  type  of  the  rank  he  should  hold  in  the  nation : 
That  his  brothers  could  only  rank  as  dvil  chiefs,— 
and  their  duties  should  consist  of  taking  care  of  the 
village,  and  attending  to  its  civil  concems — ^whilst  his 
rank,  from  his  superior  knowledge,  placed  him  over 
them  all.  If  the  nation  gets  into  any  difficulty  with 
another,  then  his  puc-co-ha-wa-mti,  or  sovereign  de- 
cree, must  be  obeyed.     If  he  declared  war,  he  must 


■r^i 


y  ■: 


iiu 


V 

.1 


1 1 


16 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK* 


lead  tliem  on  to  battle  :  That  the  Great  Spirit  had 
made  him  a  great  and  brave  general,  and  had  sent  him 
here  to  give  him  that  medal,  and  make  presents  to 
him  for  his  people. 

His  father  remained  four  days — during  which  time 
he  gave  him  guns,  powder  and  lead,  spears  and  lances, 
and  showed  him  their  use ; — so  that  in  war  he  could 
chastise  his  enemies, — and  in  peace  they  could  kill 
buffalo,  deer,  and  other  game,  necessary  for  tiie  com- 
forts and  luxuries  of  life.  He  then  presented  the 
others  with  various  kinds  of  cooking  utensils,  and 
learned  them  their  uses, — and  having  given  them  a 
large  quantity  of  goods,  as  presents,  and  every  other 
thing  necessary  for  their  comfort,  he  set  sail  for  France, 
after  promising  to  meet  them  again,  at  the  same  place, 
after  the  twelfth  moon. 

The  three  newly-made  chiefs  returned  to  their  vil- 
lage, and  explained  to  Muk-a-ta-quet,  their  father, 
who  WPS  the  principal  chief  of  the  nation,  what  had 
been  said  and  done.  The  old  chief  had  some  dogs 
killed,  and  made  a  feast,  preparatory  to  resigning  his 
sceptre,  to  which  all  the  nation  were  invited.  Great 
anxiety  prevailed  among  them,  to  know  what  the 
three  brothers  had  seen  and  heard, — when  the  old 
chief  rose,  and  related  to  them  the  sayings  and  doings 
of  bis  three  sons ;  and  concluded  by  observing,  that 
"the  Great  Spirit  had  directed  that  these,  his  three 
children,  should  take  the  rank  and  power  that  had 
been  his, — and  that  he  yielded  these  honors  and  du- 
ties willingly  to  them, — ^because  it  was  the  wish  of  the 


GrI 

an; 

to 

resi 

ne^ 

kee 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


n 


d 
n 
o 


i 


Great  Spirit,  and  he  could  never  consent  to  make  him 
angry !"  He  now  presented  ttie  great  medicine  bag 
to  Na-na-Kia-kee,  and  told  him,  "  that  he  cheerfully- 
resigned  it  to  him — it  is  the  soul  of  our  nation — it  has 
never  yet  been  disgraced — and  I  will  expect  you  to 
keep  it  unsullied !" 

Some  dissension  arose  among  some  of  tiiem,  in  con- 
sequence of  so  much  power  being  given  to  Na-na-ma- 
kee,  he  being  so  young  a  man.  To  quiet  this,  INa- 
na-raa-kee,  during  a  violent  thunder  storm,  told  them 
that  he  had  caused  it !  and  that  it  was  an  exemplifica- 
tion of  the  name  the  Great  Spirit  had  given  him. 
During  this  storm,  the  lightning  struck,  and  set  fire 
to  a  tree,  close  by  ;  (a  sight  they  had  never  witnessed 
before.)  He  went  to  it,  and  brought  away  some  of  its 
burning  branches,  made  a  fire  in  the  lodge,  and  seated 
his  brothers  thereby,  opposite  to  each  other ;  whilst 
he  stood  up,  and  addressed  his  people  as  follows : 

"  I  am  yet  young — but  the  Great  Spirit  has  called 
me  to  the  rank  I  now  hold  among  you.  I  have  never 
sought  to  be  any  thing  more  than  my  birth  entitled  me. 
I  have  not  been  ambitious— nor  was  it  ever  my  wish, 
whilst  my  father  lives,  to  have  taken  his  place — nor 
have  I  now  usurped  his  powers.  The  Great  Spirit 
caused  me  to  dream  for  four  years, — ^he  told  me  where 
to  go  and  meet  the  white  man,  who  would  be  a  kind 
father  to  us  all.  I  obeyed  his  order.  I  went,  and 
have  seen  our  new  father.  Yon  have  all  heard  what 
was  said  and  done.  The  Great  Spirit  directed  him 
to  come  and  meet  me,  and  it  is  his  order  that  places 
2* 


h 


.:''MMm 


il 


18 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


SI 


me  at  the  head  of  my  nation, — the  place  which  my 
father  has  willingly  resigned. 

*'  You  have  all  witnessed  the  power  which  has  been 
given  to  me  by  the  Great  Spirit,  in  making  that  fire— 
and  all  that  I  now  ask  is,  that  these,  my  two  chiefs, 
may  never  let  it  go  out :  That  they  preserve  peace 
among  you,  and  administer  to  the  wants  of  the  needy  : 
And,  should  an  enemy  invade  our  country,  I  will  then, 
but  not  until  then,  assume  command,  and  go  forth  with 
my  band  of  brave  warriors,  and  endeavor  to  chastise 
them  !" 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  speech,  every  voice  cried 
out  for  Na-na-ma-kee  !  All  were  satisfied,  when  they 
found  that  the  Great  Spirit  had  done,  what  they  had 
susj  ected  was  the  work  of  Na-na-ma-kee,  he  being  a 
very  shrewd  young  man. 

The  next  spring,  according  to  promise,  their  French 
father  returned,  with  his  na-pe-qua  richly  laden  with 
goods,  which  were  distributed  among  them.  He  con- 
tinued for  a  long  time  to  keep  up  a  regular  trade  with 
them — they  giving  him,  in  exchange  for  his  goods,  furs 
and  peltries. 

After  a  long  time,  the  British  overpowered  the 
French,  (the  two  nations  being  at  v^^ar,)  drove  them 
away  from  Quebec,  and  took  possession  of  it  them- 
selves. The  different  tribes  of  Indians  around  our 
nation,  envying  our  people,  united  their  forces  against 
them,  and  succeeded,  by  their  great  strength,  to  drive 
thera  to  Montreal,  and  from  thence  to  Mackinac. 
Here  our  people  first  met  our  British  father,  who  fur- 


m. 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


10 


fi^ 


nisbed  them  with  goods.  Their  enemies  still  pursued 
them,  and  drove  them  to  different  places  on  the  lake, 
until  they  made  a  village  near  Green  Bay,  on  what  is 
now  called  Sac  river,  having  derived  its  name  from 
tliis  circumstance.  Here  they  held  a  council  with  the 
Foxes,  and  a  national  treaty  of  friendship  and  alliance 
was  concluded  upon.  The  Foxes  abandoned  their 
village,  and  joined  the  Sacs.  This  arrangement  being 
mutually  obligatory  upon  both  parties,  as  neither  were 
sufficiently  strong  to  meet  their  enemies  with  any 
hope  of  success,  they  soon  became  as  one  band  or  na- 
tion of  people.  They  were  driven,  however,  by  the 
combined  forces  of  their  enemies,  to  the  Wisconsin. 
They  remained  here  some  time,  until  a  party  of  their 
young  men,  (who  had  descended  Rock  river  to  its 
mouth,)  returned,  and  made  a  favorable  report  of  the 
country.  They  all  descended  Rock  river — drove  the 
Kas-kas-kias  fiom  the  country,  and  commenced  the 
erection  of  their  village,  determined  never  to  leave  it. 

At  this  village  I  was  born,  being  a  regular  descend- 
ant of  the  first  chief,  Na-na-ma-kee,  or  Thunder. 
Few,  if  any,  events  of  note,  transpired  within  my  re- 
collection, until  about  my  fifteenth  year.  I  was  nOt 
allowed  to  paint,  or  wear  feathers;  but  distmguished 
myself,  at  that  early  age,  by  wounding  an  enemy; 
consequently,  I  was  placed  in  the  ranks  of  the  Braves  ! 

Soon  after  this,  a  leading  chief  of  the  Muscow  na- 
tion, came  to  our  village  for  recruits  to  go  to  war 
against  the  Osages,  our  common  enemy.     I  volunteer-, 
ed  my  services  to  go,  as  my  father  had  joined  him  j 


■I 


^: 


<         I 


;;.:' 


I  i 


i' 


T 


flf 


20 


life:  of  black  HawKi 


and  was  proud  to  have  an  opportunity  to  prove  to  him 
that  I  was  not  an  unworthy  son,  and  that  I  had  cou*-- 
age  and  bravery.  It  was  not  long  before  we  met  the 
enemy,  when  a  batde  immediately  ensued.  Standing 
by  my  father^s  side,  I  saw  him  kill  his  antagonist,  and 
tear  the  scalp  from  his  head.  Fired  with  valor  and 
ambition,  1  rushed  furiously  upon  another,  smote  him 
to  the  earth  with  my  tomahawk — run  my  lance 
through  his  body — took  olT  his  scalp,  and  returned  in 
triumph  to  my  father !  He  said  nothing,  but  looked 
pleased.  This  was  the  first  man  I  killed  !  The  ene- 
my's loss  in  this  engagement  having  been  great,  they 
immediately  retreated,  which  put  an  end  to  the  war 
for  the  present.  Our  party  then  returned  to  our  vil- 
lage, and  danced  over  the  scalps  we  had  taken.  This 
was  the  first  time  that  I  was  permitted  to  join  in  a 
scalp-dance. 

After  a  few  moons  had  passed,  (having  acquired 
considerable  fame  as  a  brave,)  I  led  a  party  of  seven, 
and  attacked  one  hundred  Osagesl  I  killed  one  man, 
and  left  him  for  my  comrades  to  scalp,  whilst  I  was 
taking  an  observation  of  the  strength  and  preparations 
of  the  enemy ;  and,  finding  that  they  were  all  equally 
well  armed  with  ourselves,  I  ordered  a  retreat,  and 
came  off  without  losing  a  man  !  This  excursion  gain- 
ed for  me  great  applause,  and  enabled  me,  before  a 
great  while,  to  raise  a  party  of  one  hundred  and  eighty, 
to  go  against  the  Osages.  We  left  our  village  in  high 
spirits,  and  marched  over  a  rugged  country,  until  we 
reached  that  of  the  Osages,  on  the  Missouri.     We  fol- 


™ 


LIFE    OF  BLACK   BAWK. 


31 


I'' 


I 


lowed  their  trail  until  we  arrived  at  their  village,  which 
we  approached  with  great  caution,  expecting  that  they 
were  all  there  ;  but  found,  to  our  sorrow,  that  they  had 
deserted  it !  The  party  became  dissatisfied,  in  conse- 
quence of  this  disappointment, — and  all,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  five,  dispersed  and  returned  home.  I  then 
placed  myself  at  the  head  of  this  brave  little  band,  and 
thanked  the  Great  Spirit  that  so  many  remained, — and 
took  up  the  trail  of  our  enemies,  with  a  full  determina- 
tion never  to  return  without  some  trophy  of  victory ! 
We  followed  on  for  several  days — killed  one  man  and 
a  boy,  and  then  returned  with  their  scalps. 

In  consequence  of  this  mutiny  in  my  camp,  I  was 
not  again  enabled  to  raise  a  sufficient  party  to  go  against 
the  Osages,  until  about  my  nineteenth  year.  During 
this  interim,  they  committed  many  outrages  on  our  na- 
tion and  people.  I  succeeded,  at  length,  in  recruiting 
two  hundred  efficient  warriors,  and  took  up  the  line  of 
march  early  in  the  morning.  In  a  few  days  we  were 
in  the  enemy's  country,  and  had  not  travelled  far  be- 
fore we  met  an  equal  force  to  contend  with.  A  gen- 
eral battle  immediately  commenced,  although  my  braves 
were  considerably  fatigued  by  forced  marches.  Each 
party  fought  desperately.  The  enemy  seemed  unwill- 
ing to  yield  the  ground,  and  we  were  determined  to 
conquer  or  die  !  A  large  number  of  the  Osages  were 
killed,  and  many  wounded,  before  they  commenced 
retreating.  A  band  of  warriors  more  brave,  skilful, 
and  efficient  than  mine,  could  not  be  found.  In  this 
engagement  I  killed  five  men  and  one  squaw,  and  had 


(^ 


h\\ 


•  \ 

I 

■  I 


M 


I' 
3  \ 


32 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


the  good  fortune  to  take  tlie  scalps  of  all  1  struck,  ex- 
cept one.  The  enemy's  loss  in  this  engagement  was 
about  one  hundred  men.  Ours  nineteen.  We  now 
returned  to  our  village,  well  pleased  with  our  success, 
and  danced  over  the  scalps  we  had  taken. 

The  Osages,  in  consequence  of  their  great  loss  in  this 
ba.tle,  became  satisfied  to  remain  on  their  own  lands ; 
and  ceased,  for  a  while,  their  depredations  on  our  na- 
tion. Our  attention,  therefore,  was  directed  towards 
an  ancient  enemy,  who  had  decoyed  and  murdered 
some  of  our  helpless  women  and  children.  I  started, 
with  my  father,  who  took  command  of  a  small  party, 
and  proceeded  against  the  enemy.  We  met  near  Mori- 
mack,  and  an  action  ensued;  the  Cherokees  having 
.  greatly  the  advantage  in  numbers.  Early  in  this  en- 
gagement my  father  was  wounded  in  the  thigh — but 
had  the  pleasure  of  killing  his  antagonist  before  he  fell. 
Seeing  that  he  had  fallen,  I  assumed  commiind,  and 
fought  desperately,  until  the  enemy  commenced  retreat- 
ing before  us.  I  returned  to  my  father  to  administer  to 
his  necessities,  but  nothing  could  be  done  for  him.  The 
medicine  man  said  the  wound  was  mortal !  from  which 
he  soon  after  died !  In  this  battle  I  killed  three  men, 
and  wounded  several.  The  enemy's  loss  being  twenty- 
eight,  and  ours  seven. 

I  now  fell  heir  to  the  great  medicine  hag  of  my  fore- 
fathers, which  had  belonged  to  my  father.  I  took  it, 
buried  our  dead,  and  returned  with  my  party,  all  sad 
and  sorrowful,  to  our  village,  in  consequence  of  the  loss 
of  my  father.     Owing  to  this  misfortune,  I  blacked  my 


« 


far 

ye; 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


'^^ 


It 


4 


face,  fasted,  and  prayed  to  the  Great  Spirit  for  five 
years — during  which  time  I  remained  in  a  civil  capaci- 
ty, hunting  and  fishing. 

Tlie  Osages  having  commenced  aggressions  on  our 
people,  and  the  Great  Spirit  having  taken  pity  on  me, 
1  took  a  small  party  and  went  against  the  enemy,  but 
could  only  find  six  men  !  Tlteir  forces  being  so  weak, 
1  thought  it  cowardly  to  kill  them, — but  took  them 
prisoners,  and  carried  them  to  our  Spanish  father  at  St. 
Louis,  and  gave  them  up  to  him  ;  and  then  returned  to 
our  village.  Determined  on  the  final  extermination  of 
the  Osages,  for  the  injuries  our  nation  and  people  had 
received  from  them,  I  commenced  recruiting  a  strong 
force,  immediately  on  my  return,  and  started,  in  the 
third  moon,  with  five  hundred  Sacs  and  Foxes,  and  one 
hundred  loways,  and  marched  against  the  enemy.  We 
continued  our  march  for  several  days  before  we  came 
upon  their  trail,  which  was  discovered  late  in  the  day. 
We  encamped  for  the  night ;  made  an  early  start  next 
morning,  and  before  sun-down,  fell  upon  foiiy  lodges, 
and  killed  all  their  inhabitants,  except  two  squaws ! 
whom  I  captured  and  made  prisoners.  During  this 
attack  I  killed  seven  men  and  two  boys,  with  my  own 
hand. 

In  this  engagement  itiany  of  the  bravest  warriors 
among  the  Osages  were  killed,  which  caused  the  balance 
of  their  nation  to  remain  on  their  own  lands,  and  cease 
their  aggressions  upon  our  hunting  grounds. 

The  loss  of  my  father,  by  the  Cherokees,  made  me 
anxious  to  avenge  his  death,  by  the  annihilation,  if  pes- 


;M 


<:!■ 


>. 


'  I 


l\ 


•<%■■■ 


u 


LIFE   OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


P 


I. 


sible,  of  all  their  race.  I  accordingly  commenced  re- 
cruiting another  party  to  go  against  them.  Having 
succeeded  in  this,  I  started,  with  my  party,  and  went 
into  their  country,  but  only  found  five  of  their  people, 
whom  I  to.  \  prisoners.  I  afterwards  released  four  men 
— the  other,  a  young  squaw,  we  brought  home.  Great 
as  was  my  hatred  for  this  people,  I  could  not  kill  so 
small  a  party. 

Durhig  the  close  of  the  ninth  moon,  I  led  a  lai'ge 
party  against  the  Chippewas,  Kaskaskias  and  Osages. 
This  was  the  commencement  of  a  long  and  arduous 
campaign,  which  terminated  in  my  thirty-fifth  year  i 
having  had  seven  regular  engagem.ents,  and  a  number 
of  small  skirmishes.  During  this  campaign,  several 
hundred  of  the  enemy  were  slain.  I  killed  thirteen  of 
their  bravest  warriors,  with  my  own  hand. 

Our  enemies  having  now  been  driven  from  our  hunt- 
ing grounds,  with  so  great  a  loss  as  they  sustained,  we 
returned,  in  peace,  to  our  villages ;  and,  after  the  seasons 
of  mourning  and  burying  our  dead  relations,  and  of  feast- 
dancing,  had  passed,  we  commenced  preparations  for 
our  winter's  hunt,  in  which  we  were  very  successful. 

We  generally  paid  a  visit  to  St.  Louis  ev^ery  sum- 
mer; but,  in  consequence  of  the  protracted  war  in 
which  we  had  been  engaged,  I  had  not  been  there  for 
some  years.  Our  difficulties  having  all  been  settled,  I 
concluded  to  take  a  small  party,  that  summer,  and  go 
down  to  see  our  Spanish  father.  We  went — and  on 
our  arrival,  put  up  our  lodges  where  the  market-house 
now  stands.     After  painting  and  dressing,  we  called  to 


St 


^M 


LIFE    OP   BLACK   HAWK. 


25 


1 1'  '. 


see  our  Spanish  father,  and  were  \\ell  received.  He 
gave  us  a  variety  of  presents,  and  plenty  of  provisions. 
We  danced  through  the  town  as  usual,  and  its  inhab- 
itants all  seemed  to  be  well  pleased.  They  appeared 
to  us  like  brothers — and  always  gave  as  good  advice. 

On  my  next,  and  last  visit  to  my  Spanish  father,  I 
discovered,  on  landing,  that  all  was  not  right :  every 
countenance  seemed  sad  and  g?  jomy  !  I  inquired  the 
cause,  and  was  informed  that  the  Americans  were  com- 
ing to  take  possession  of  the  town  and  country ! — and 
that  we  should  then  lose  our  Spanish  father !  This 
news  made  myself  and  band  sad — because  we  had  al- 
ways heard  bad  accounts  of  the  Anif^ricans  from  Indians 
who  had  lived  near  them ! — and  we  were  sorry  to  lose 
our  Spanish  father,  who  had  always  treated  us  with 
great  friendship. 

A  few  days  afterwards  the  Americans  arrived.  I 
took  my  band,  and  went  to  take  leave,  for  the  last 
time,  of  our  father.  The  Americans  came  to  see  him 
also.  Seeing  them  approach,  we  passed  out  at  one 
door,  as  they  entered  another — and  iromediately  start- 
ed^ in  canoes,  for  our  village  on  Rock  river — not  liking 
the  change  any  more  than  our  friends  appeared  to,  at 
St.  Louis. 

On  arriving  at  our  village,  we  gave  the  news,  that 
strange  people  had  taken  St.  Louis — and  that  we  should 
never  see  our  Spanish  father  again !  This  information 
made  all  our  people  sorry  ! 

Some  time  afterwards,  a  boat  came  up  the  river,  with 
a  young  American  chief,  [Lieutenant  (afterwards  Gren- 
3 


ii'. 


f 


M 


It 


■■■1: 


m 


I 


■(I 


m 


Mi 


I  H 


I  ( 


"^%: 


26 


'JFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


eral)  Pike,]  and  a  small  party  of  soldiers.  We  heard 
of  liiin,  (by  runners,)  soon  after  he  had  passed  Salt 
river.  Some  of  our  young  braves  watched  him  every 
day,  to  see  what  sort  of  people  he  had  on  board.  The 
boat,  at  length,  arrived  at  Rock  river,  and  the  young 
chief  came  on  shore  with  his  interpreter — made  a 
speech,  and  gave  us  some  presents.  We,  in  return, 
presented  him  with  meat,  and  such  provisions  as  we 
could  spare. 

We  were  all  well  pleased  with  the  speech  of  the 
young  chief.  He  gave  us  good  advice ;  said  our 
American  father  would  treat  us  well.  He  presented 
us  an  American  flag,  which  was  hoisted.  He  then  re- 
quested us  to  pull  down  our  British  flags — and  give 
him  our  British  medals — promising  to  send  us  others 
on  his  return  to  St.  Louis.  This  we  declined,  as  we 
wished  to  have  tivo  Fathers ! 

When  the  young  chief  started,  we  sent  runners  to 
the  Fox  village,  some  miles  distant,  to  direct  them  to 
treat  him  well  as  he  passed — which  they  did.  He  went 
to  the  head  of  the  Mississippi,  and  then  returned  to 
St.  Louis.  We  did  not  sfee  any  Americans  again 
for  some  time, — ^being  supplied  with  goods  by  British 
traders. 

We  were  fonunate  in  not  giving  up  our  medals — 
for  we  learned  afterwards,  from  our  traders,  that  the 
chiefs  high  up  on  the  Mississippi,  who  gave  thdrs,  nev- 
er received  any  in  exchange  for  them.  But  the  fault 
was  not  with  the  young  American  chief.  He  was  a 
good  man,  and  a  great  brave — and  died  in  his  country's 
bcrvicfi- 


^ 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


27 


Some  moons  after  tliis  young  chief  descended  the 
Mississippi,  one  of  our  people  killed  an  American — ■ 
and  was  confined,  in  the  prison  at  St.  Louis,  for  the 
offence.  We  held  a  council  at  our  village  to  see  what 
could  be  done  for  him, — which  determined  that  Quash- 
qua-me,  Pa-she-pa-ho,  Ou-che-qua-ka,  and  Ha-she- 
quar-hi-qua,  should  go  down  to  St.  Louis,  see  our 
American  father,  and  do  all  they  could  to  have  our 
friend  released ;  by  paying  for  the  person  killed — thus 
covering  the  blood,  and  satisfying  the  relations  of  the 
man  murdered !  This  being  the  only  means  with  us  of 
saving  a  person  who  had  killed  another — and  we  then 
thought  it  was  the  same  way  with  the  whites ! 

The  party  started  with  the  good  wishes  of  the  whole 
nation — ^hoping  they  would  accomplish  the  object  of 
their  mission.  The  relatives  of  the  prisoner  blacked 
their  faces,  and  fasted — hoping  the  Great  Spirit  would 
take  pity  on  them,  and  return  the  husband  and  father 
to  his  wife  and  children. 

Quash-qua-me  and  party  remained  a  long  time  ab- 
sent. They  at  length  returned,  and  encamped  a  short 
distance  below  the  village — ^but  did  not  come  up  that 
day — nor  did  any  person  approach  their  camp !  They 
appeared  to  be  dressed  in  fine  coats,  and  had  medals ! 
From  these  circumstances,  we  were  in  hopes  that  they 
had  brought  good  news.  Early  the  next  morning,  the 
Council  Lodge  was  crowded — Quash-qua-me  and  par- 
ty came  up,  and  gave  us  the  following  account  of  their 
mission :  .  ^ 

"On  their  arrival   at  St.  Louis,  they  met   their 


4 


:  i: 

■    * 

1  '■  > 

!    1,    ' 

H 

^  ;i 

.i 

: 

\ 

I  i 

\ 

1' 

-1 

% 

!,1 

m 

1  f 

I?.*- 

!  i 

- 

l.i? 

r 


iih 


;  n 


•  i\ 


r  d 


28 


LIFE    or    BLACK    HAWK. 


!  'ill 


m 


American  father,  and  explained  to  him  their  business, 
and  urged  the  release  of  their  friend.  The  American 
chief  told  them  he  wanted  land — and  they  had  agreed 
to  give  him  some  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  some  on  ihe  Illinois  side  opposite  the  JefFreon. 
When  the  business  was  all  arranged,  they  expected  to 
have  their  friend  released  to  come  home  with  them. 
But  about  the  time  they  were  ready  to  start,  their  friend 
was  let  out  of  prison,  who  ran  a  short  distance,  and  was 
shot  dead !  This  is  all  they  could  recollect  of  what 
was  said  and  done.  They  had  been  drunk  the  greater 
part  of  the  time  they  were  in  St.  Ix)uis." 

This  is  all  myself  or  nation  knew  of  the  treaty  of 
1804.  It  has  been  explained  to  me  since.  I  find,  by 
that  treaty,  all  our  country,  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
south  of  the  Jeffreon,  was  ceded  to  the  United  States 
for  one  thousand  dollars  a  year !  I  will  leave  it  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States  to  say,  whether  our  nation 
was  properly  represented  in  this  U;eaty  ?  or  whether 
we  received  a  fair  compensation  for  the  extent  of  coun- 
try ceded  by  those  four  individuals  ?  I  could  say  much 
about  this  treaty,  but  I  will  not,  at  this  time.  It  has 
been  the  origin  of  all  our  difficulties. 

Some  time  after  this  treaty  was  made,  a  war  chief, 
with  a  party  of  soldiers,  came  up  in  kec '  boats,  and 
encamped  a  short  distance  above  the  head  of  the  Des 
Moines  rapids,  and  commenced  cutting  timber  and  build- 
ing houses.  The  news  of  their  arrival  was  soon  carried 
to  all  the  villages — when  council  after  council  was  held. 
We  could  not  understand  the  intention,  or  reason,  why 


the  / 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


29 


Hf 


ss, 
an 
ed 


i 


^'i 


llie  Americans  wanted  to  build  houses  at  that  place — 
but  were  told  that  they  were  a  party  of  soldiers,  who 
had  brought  great  guns  with  them — and  looked  like  a 
war  party  of  whites ! 

A«number  of  our  people  immediately  w^ent  down  to 
see  what  was  doing — myself  among  them.  On  our 
arrival,  we  found  they  were  building  a  fort !  The  sol- 
diers were  busily  engaged  in  cutting  timber ;  and  I  ob- 
served that  they  took  their  arms  with  them,  when  they 
went  to  the  woods — and  the  whole  party  acted  as  they 
would  do  in  an  enemy's  country  !  The  chiefs  held  a 
council  with  the  officers,  or  head  men,  of  the  party — 
which  I  did  not  attend — but  understood  from  them  that 
the  war  chief  had  said,  that  they  were  building  houses 
for  a  trader,  who  was  coming  there  to  live,  and  would 
sell  us  goods  very  cheap !  and  that  these  soldiers  were 
to  remain  to  keep  him  company !  We  were  pleased 
at  this  information,  and  hoped  it  was  all  true — but  we 
could  not  believe  that  all  these  buildings  were  intended 
merely  for  the  accommodation  of  a  trader !  Being  dis- 
trustful of  their  intentions,  we  were  anxious  for  them 
to  leave  off  building,  and  go  down  the  river  again*  By 
this  time,  a  considerable  number  of  Indians  had  arrived, 
to  see  what  was  doing.  I  discovered  that  the  w^hites 
were  alarmed!  •  . 

Some  of  our  young  men  watched  r.  party  of  soldiers, 
who  went  out  to  work,  carrying  their  arms — ^which 
were  laid  aside,  before  they  commenced.  Having  stole 
up  quietly  to  the  spot,  they  seized  the  guns  and  gave 
a  yell !  The  party  threw  down  their  axes,  and  ran  for 
3* 


I 


i; 


id 

m 


30 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


'  'I 


their  arms,  but  found  them  gone !  and  themselves  sur- 
I'ounded  !  Our  young  men  laughed  at  them,  and  re- 
turned them  their  guns. 

When  this  party  came  to  the  fort,  they  reported 
what  had  been  done,  and  the  war  chief  made  a  serious 
affair  of  it.  He  called  our  chiefs  to  council,  inside  of 
his  fort.  This  created  considerable  excitement  in  our 
camp — every  one  wanted  to  know  what  was  going  to 
be  done — and  the  picketing  which  had  been  put  up, 
being  low — every  Indian  crowded  round  the  fort,  and 
got  upon  blocks  of  wood,  and  old  barrels,  that  they 
might  see  what  was  going  on  inside.  Some  were  arm- 
ed with  guns,  and  others  with  bows  and  arrows.  We 
used  this  precaution,  seeing  that  the  soldiers  had  their 
guns  loaded — and  having  seen  them  load  their  big  gun 
that  morning ! 

A  party  of  our  braves  commenced  dancing,  and  pro- 
ceeded up  to  the  gate,  with  an  intention  of  going  in, 
but  were  stopped.  The  council  immediately  broke  up 
— the  soldiers,  with  their  arms  in  their  hands,  rushed 
out  of  their  rooms,  where  they  had  been  concealed — 
the  cannon  was  hauled  in  front  of  the  gateway — and  a 
soldier  came  running  with  fire  in  his  hand,  ready  to 
apply  the  match.  Our  braves  gave  way,  and  all  re- 
tired to  the  camp. 

There  was  no  preconcerted  plan  to  attack  the  whites 
at  that  time — ^but  I  am  of  opinion  now,  had  our  party 
got  into  the  fort,  all  the  whites  would  have  been  killed 
— as  the  British  soldiers  had  been  at  Mackinac 


years  before. 


many 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


31 


M." 


't 


■'k 


We  broke  up  our  camp,  and  returned  to  Rock  river. 
A  short  time  afterwards,  the  fort  party  received  a  rein- 
forcement—among whom  we  observed  some  of  our  old 
friends  from  St.  Louis. 

Soon  after  our  return  from  fort  Madison,  runners 
came  to  our  village  from  the  Shawnee  Prophet,  (whilst 
others  were  despatched  by  him  to  the  villages  of  the 
Winnebagoes,)  with  invitations  for  us  to  meet  him  on 
the  Wabash.  Accordingly  a  party  went  from  each 
village. 

All  of  our  party  returned,  among  whom  came  a 
Prophet,  who  explained  to  us  the  bad  treatment  the 
different  nations  of  Indians  had  received  from  the 
Americans,  by  giving  them  a  few  presents,  and  taking 
their  land  from  them.  I  remember  well  his  saying, — 
^^  If  you  do  not  join  your  friends  on  the  Wabash,  the 
Americans  will  take  this  very  village  from  you ! "  I 
little  thought,  then,  that  his  words  would  corne  true  \ 
Supposing  that  he  used  these  arguments  merely  to  en- 
courage us  to"  join  him,  we  agreed  that  we  would  not. 
He  then  returned  to  the  Wabash,  where  a  party  of 
Winnebagoes  had  arrived,  and  preparations  were  mak- 
ing for  war  1  A  battle  soon  ensued,  in  which  several 
Winnebagoes  were  killed.  As  soon  as  their  nation 
heard  of  this  battle,  and  that  some  of  their  people  had 
been  killed,  they  started  war  parties  in  different  directions. 
One  to  the  mining  country ;  one  to  Prairie  du  Chien, 
and  another  to  fort  Madison.  This  last  returned  by 
our  village,  and  exhibited  several  scalps  which  they  had 


I' I 


,   IV 


t; 
i 


I'lU 


11 
II. 

■i,l 


3:2 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWl^. 


taken.  Their  success  induced  several  oilier  parties  to 
go  against  the  fort.  Myself  and  several  of  my  band 
joined  the  last  party,  and  were  determined  to  take  the 
fort.  We  arrived  in  the  vicinity  during  the  night.  The 
spies  that  we  had  sent  out  several  days  before,  to  watch 
the  movements  of  those  at  the  garrison,  and  ascertain 
their  numbers,  came  to  us,'and  gave  the  following  in- 
formation : — "  That  a  keel-boat  had  arrived  from  below 
that  evening,  with  seventeen  men ;  that  there  were 
about  fifty  men  in  the  fort,  and  that  they  marched  out 
every  morning  at  sunrise,  to  exercise." 

It  was  immediately  determined  that  we  should  take 
a  position  as  near  as  we  could,  (to  conceal  ourselves,) 
to  the  place  where  the  soldiers  would  come ;  and  when 
the  signal  was  given,  each  man  to  fire,  and  then  rush 
into  the  fort.  I  dug  a  hole  with  my  knife,  deep  enough, 
(by  placing  a  few  weeds  around  it,)  to  conceal  myself. 
I  was  so  near  to  the  fort  that  I  could  hear  the  sentinel 
^.walking.  By  day-break,  I  had  finished  my  work,  and 
was  anxiously  awaiting  the  rising  of  the  sun.  The 
drum  beat ;  I  examined  the  priming  of  my  gun,  and 
jagerly  watched  for  the  gate  to  open.  It  did  open — 
but  instead  of  the  troops  marching  out,  a  young  man 
came  alone.  The  gate  closed  after  him.  He  passed 
close  by  me — so  near  that  I  could  have  killed  him  with 
my  knife,  but  I  let  him  pass.  He  kept  the  path  to- 
wards the  river ;  and  had  he  went  one  step  out  of  it,  he 
must  have  come  upon  us,  and  would  have  been  killed. 
He  returned  immediately,  and   entered  the  gate.     I 


wli^ 


^m 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


33 


I 


^ 


would  now  have  rushed  for  the  gate,  and  entered  it 
with  him,  but  I  feared  that  our  party  was  not  prepared 
to  follow  me. 

The  gate  opened  again — four  men  came  out,  and 
went  down  to  the  river  after  wood.  Whilst  they  were 
gone,  another  man  came  out,  and  walked  towards  the 
river — was  fired  upon  and  killed  by  a  Winnebago. 
The  others  immediately  ran  for  the  fort,  and  two  of 
them  were  killed.  We  then  took  shelter  under  the 
bank  out  of  reach  of  fire  from  the  fort. 

The  firing  now  commenced  from  both  parties,  and 
continued  all  day.  I  advised  our  party  to  set  fire  to 
the  fort,  and  commenced  preparing  arrows  for  that  pur- 
pose. At  night  we  made  the  attempt,  and  succeeded 
to  fire  the  buildings  several  times,  but  without  effect, 
as  the  fire  was  always  instantly  extinguished. 

The  next  day  I  took  my  rifle,  and  shot  in  two  the 
cord  by  which  they  hoisted  their  flag,  and  prevented 
them  from  raising  it  again.  We  continued  firing  until 
all  our  ammunition  was  expended ;  and  finding  that  we 
could  not  take  the  fort,  returned  home,  having  had  one 
Winnebago  killed,  and  one  wounded,  during  the  siege. 
I  have  since  learned  that  the  trader,  who  lived  in  the 
fort,  wounded  the  Winnebago  when  he  was  scalping  the 
first  man  that  was  killed  !  The  Winnebago  recovered, 
is  now  living,  and  is  very  friendly  disposed  towards  the 
trader,  believing  him  to  be  a  great  brave  ! 

.  Soon  after  our  return  home,  news  reached  us  that  a 
war  was  going  to  take  place  between  the  British  and 


1 


*.{■ 


f! 


J  ( 


1 1 


h 


:k& 


34 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


t., 


u 


m 


the  Americans.  Runners  ccntinued  to  arrive  from 
different  tribes,  all  confirming  the  report  of  the  expect- 
ed war.  The  British  agent,  Col.  Dixon,  was  holding 
talks  with,  and  making  presents  to,  the  different  tribes. 
I  had  not  made  up  my  mind  whether  to  join  the  British 
or  remain  neutral.  /  had  not  discovered  one  good  trait 
in  the  character  of  the  Americans  that  had  come  to  the 
country  I  They  made  fair  promises,  but  never  fulfilled 
them!  Whilst  the  British  made  but  few — but  we 
could  always  rely  upon  their  word  I 

One  of  our  people  having  killed  a  Frenchman  at 
Prairie  du  Chien,  the  British  took  him  prisoner,  and 
said  they  would  shoot  him  the  next  day  !  His  family 
were  encamped  a  short  distance  below  the  mouth  of 
the  Ouisconsin.  He  begged  for  permission  to  go  and 
see  them  that  night,  as  he  was  to  die  the  next  day ! 
They  permitted  him  to  go,  after  promising  to  return  the 
next  morning  by  sunrise.  He  visited  his  family,  which 
consisted  of  a  wife  and  six  children.  I  cannot  describe 
their  meeting  and  parting,  to  be  understood  by  the 
whites ;  as  it  appears  that  their  feelings  are  acted  upon 
by  certain  rules  laid  down  by  their  preachers ! — whilst 
ours  are  governed  only  by  the  monitor  within  us.  He 
parted  from  his  wife  and  children,  hurried  through  the 
prairie  to  the  fort,  and  arrived  in  time  !  The  soldiers 
were  ready,  and  immediately  marched  out  and  shot 
him  down!  I  visited  his  family,  and  by  hunting  and 
fishing,  provided  for  them  until  they  reached  their  re- 
lations. 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    IIA.WK. 


36 


'i 


J. 


m 
•i 


Why  did  the  Groat  S[)int  ever  send  the  whites  to 
this  island,  to  drive  us  from  our  liomes,  and  introduce 
among  us  poisonous  liquors,  disease  and  death  7  They 
should  hiive  remained  on  the  island  where  the  Great 
Spirit  first  placed  them.  But  1  will  proceed  with  my 
story.  My  memory,  however,  is  not  very  good,  since 
my  lute  visit  to  the  white  people.  I  have  still  a  buz- 
zing in  my  ears,  from  the  noise — and  may  give  some 
parts  of  my  story  out  of  place  ;  but  1  will  endeavor  to 
be  correct. 

Several  of  our  chiefs  and  head  men  were  called 
upon  to  go  to  Washington,  to  see  their  Great  Father. 
They  started  ;  and  during  their  absence,  I  went  to 
Peoria,  on  the  Illinois  river,  to  see  an  old  friend,  a 
trader,  to  get  his  advice.  He  was  a  man  that  always 
told  us  the  truth,  and  knew  every  thing  that  was  going 
on.  When  I  arrived  at  Peoria,  he  was  not  there,  but 
had  gone  to  Chicago.  I  "visited  the  Pottawatomie 
villages,  and  then  returned  to  Rock  river.  Soon  after 
which,  our  friends  returned  from  their  visit  to  our 
Great  Father — and  related  what  had  been  said  and 
done.  Their  Great  Father  (they  said)  wished  us,  in 
the  event  of  a  war  taking  place  with  England,  not  to 
interfere  on  either  side — ^but  to  remain  neutral.  He 
did  not  want  our  help — but  wished  us  to  hunt  and  sup- 
port our  families,  and  live  in  peace.  He  said  that 
British  traders  would  not  be  permitted  to  come  on  the 
Mississippi,  to  furnish  us  with  goods — but  we  would 
be  well  supplied  by  an  American  trader.     Our  chiefs 


■  n 


ii 


I 


!•; 


!  ( 


36 


MFE    OF    III.ACK    HAWK. 


then  loUl  him  tliat  the  British  traders  always  gave  us 
credits  in  iho  (all,  lor  guns,  jiowdor  and  goods,  to  ena- 
ble us  to  hunt,  and  clothe  our  families.  Flo  replied 
that  the  trader  at  fort  Madison  would  have  [)lenty  of 
goods — that  we  should  go  there  in  the  fall,  and  he 
would  supply  us  on  credit,  as  the  British  traders  had 
done.  Tlie  party  gave  a  good  account  of  what  they 
had  seen,  and  the  kind  treatment  they  received. 

This  information  pleased  us  all  very  much.  We  all 
agreed  to  follow  our  Great  Father's  advice,  and  not 
interfere  with  the  war.  Our  women  were  much 
pleased  at  this  good  news.  Every  thing  went  on 
cheerfully  in  our  village.  We  resumed  our  pastimes 
of  playing  ball,  horse  racing,  and  dancing,  which  had 
been  laid  aside  when  this  great  war  was  first  talked 
about. 

We  had  fine  crops  of  corn,  which  were  now  ripe — 
and  our  women  were  engaged  in  gathering  it,  and 
making  cashes  to  contain  it.  In  a  short  time  we  were 
ready  to  start  to  fort  Madison,  to  get  our  supply  of 
goods,  that  we  might  prrcced  to  our  hunting  grounds. 
We  passed  merrily  dovn  the  river — all  in  high  spirits. 
I  had  determined  to  spend  the  winter  at  my  old  favor- 
ite hunting  ground,  on  Skunk  river,  and  left  part  of 
my  corn  and  mats  at  its  mouth,  to  take  up  when  1 
returned  :  others  did  the  same.  Next  morning  we 
arrived  at  the  fort,  and  made  our  encami 


self  and  principal  men 
the  fort.     He  received 


ipment.     My- 
paid  a  visit  to  the  war  chief  at 


us 


kindly, 


and  gave  us  some 


■^:- 


LIFE   OF   BLICK    HAWK. 


Q7 


US 

I  Ill- 
it 'd 
of 
he 
had 
ley 


I 


tobacco,  pipes  and  provision.  The  trader  came  in, 
and  wo  all  rose  and  shook  hands  with  him — for  on 
him  all  our  dependence  was  placed,  to  enable  us  to 
hunt,  and  thereby  support  our  families.  We  waited  a 
long  time,  expecting  the  trader  would  tell  us  that  he 
had  orders  from  our  Great  Father  to  supply  us  with 
goods — "but  he  said  nothing  on  the  subject,  I  got  up, 
and  told  him,  in  a  short  speech,  what  we  had  come 
for — and  hoped  he  had  plenty  of  goods  to  supply  us 
—and  told  him  that  he  should  be  well  paid  in  the 
spring — and  concluded,  by  informing  him,  that  we  had 
determined  to  follow  our  Great  Father's  advice,  and 
not  go  to  war. 

He  said  that  he  was  happy  to  hear  that  we  intend- 
ed to  remain  at  peace.  That  he  had  a  large  quantity 
of  goods ;  and  that,  if  we  made  a  good  hunt,  we 
would  be  well  supplied :  ]>ut  remarked,  that  he  had 
received  no  instructions  to  furnish  us  any  thing  on 
credit  I— -nor  could  he  give  us  any  without  receiving 
the  pay  for  them  on  the  spot ! 

We  informed  him  what  our  Great  Father  had  told 
our  chiefs  at  Washington — and  contended  that  he 
could  supply  us  if  he  would — believing  that  our  Great 
Father  always  spoke  the  truth  !  But  the  war  chief 
said  that  the  trader  could  not  furnish  us  on  credit — 
and  tliat  he  had  received  no  instructions  from  our 
Great  Father  at  Washington !  We  left  the  fort  dis- 
satisfied, and  went  to  our  camp.  What  was  now  to 
be  done,  we  knew  not.     We  questioned  the  party  that 


M 


38 


Life  of  black  hawk. 


ii''V 


life 


brought  us  the  news  from  our  Great  Father,  that  we 
would  get  credi;.  for  ar  winter's  supphes,  at  this  place. 
They  still  told  the  same  story,  and  insisted  upon  its 
truth.  Few  of  us  slept  that  night — all  was  gloom  and 
discontent ! 

In  the  morning,  a  canoe  was  seen  descending  the 
river — it  soon  arrived,  bearing  an  express,  who  brought 
intelligence  that  L"  Gi'trie,  a  British  trader,  had  land- 
ed at  Rock  Island,  with  two  boats  loaded  with  goods — 
and  requesttu  us  to  come  up  immediately — because  he 
had  good  news  for  us,  and  a  variety  of  presents.  The 
express  presented  us  with  tobacco,  pipes  and  wampum. 

The  news  run  through  our  camp  like  fire  in  the 
prairie.  Our  lodges  were  soon  taken  down,  and  all 
started  for  Rock  (sland.  Here  ended  all  hopes  of 
our  remaining  at  peace — having  been  forced  into  war 
by  being  deceived  ! 

Our  party  were  not  long  in  getting  to  Rock  Island. 
When  we  came  in  sight,  and  saw  tents  pitched,  we 
yelled,  Jired  our  guns,  and  commenced  beating  our 
drums.  Guns  were  immediat'jly  fired  at  the  island, 
returning  our  salute,  and  a  British  jlag  hoisted  !  We 
landed,  and  were  cordially  received  by  Ia  Gutrie — 
and  then  smoked  the  pipe  with  him  1  After  which  he 
made  a  speech  to  us,  that  had  been  sent  by  Colonel 
Dixon,  and  gave  us  a  number  of  handsome  pFesents — 
a  large  silk  flag,  and  a  keg  of  rum,  and  told  us  to  re- 
tire— take  some  refreshments  and  rest  ourselves,  as  he 
would  have  more  lo  sav  to  us  on  the  next  day. 


-■^^- 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWJI. 


39 


/(' 


n 


We,  accordingly,  retired  to  our  lodges,  (which  had 
been  put  up  in  the  mean  time,)  and  spent  the  night. 
The  next  morning  we  called  upon  him,  and  told  him 
thai  we  wpnted  his  two  boats'  load  of  goods  to  divide 
among  our  people — for  which  he  should  be  well  paid 
in  the  spring  with  furs  and  peltries.  He  consented — 
told  us  to  take  them — and  do  as  we  pleased  with  them. 
Whilst  our  people  were  dividing  the  goods,  he  took 
me  aside,  and  informed  me  that  Col.  Dixon  was  at 
Green  Bay,  with  twelve  boats,  loaded  with  goods, 
guns,  and  ammunition — and  wished  me  to  raise  a  party 
immediately  and  go  to  him.  He  said  that  our  friend, 
tlie  trader  at  Peoria,  was  collecting  the  Pottawatomies, 
and  would  be  there  before  us.  I  communicated  this 
information  to  my  braves,  and  a  party  of  two  hundred 
warriors  were  soon  collected  and  ready  to  depart. 

I  paid  a  visit  to  the  lodge  of  an  old  friend,  who  had 
been  the  comrade  of  my  youth,  and  had  been  in  many 
war  parties  with  me,  but  was  now  crippled,  and  no 
longer  able  to  travel.  He  had  a  son  that  I  had  adopt- 
ed as  my  own,  who  had  huntcJ  with  me  the  two  pre- 
ceding winters.  1  wished  my  old  friend  to  let  "him  go 
with  me.  He  objected,  saying  that  he  could  not  get 
his  support  if  his  son  left  him :  that  I,  (who  had  al- 
ways provided  for  him  since  he  got  lame,)  would  be 
gone,  and  he  had  no  other  dependence  than  his  son. 
I  offered  to  leave  my  son  in  his  place — but  he  still  re- 
fused.    He  said  he  did  not  like  the  war — he  had  been 


•■^■i 


%. 


i\ 


k 


Jil 


1 


if-( 


■'•'* 


;■'.  ■■ 


'  ^ti'i  ■ 


40 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


down  the  river,  and  had  been  well  treated  by  the 
Americans,  and  could  not  fight  against  them.  He 
had  promised  to  winter  near  a  white  setder  above  Salt 
river,  and  must'take  his  son  with  him.  We  parted. 
I  soon  concluded  my  arrangements,  and  started  with 
my  party  to  Green  Bay.  On  our  arrival  there,  we 
found  a  large  encampment,  and  were  well  recei'/ed  by 
Dixon,  and  the  war  chiefs  that  were  with  him.  He 
gave  us  plenty  of  provisions,  tobacco  and  pipes,  and 
said  he  would  hold  a  council  with  us  the  next  day. 

In  the  encampment,  T  found  a  large  number  of  Pct- 
towatomies,  Kickapoos,  Ottawas  and  V/innebagoe^, 
1  visited  all  their  camps,  and  found  them  in  high  spir- 
its. They  had  all  received  new  guns,  ammunition, 
and  a  variety  of  clothing.  In  the  evening  a  messen- 
ger came  to  me  to  visit  Col.  Dixon.  I  went  to  his 
tent,  in  which  were  two  other  war  chiefs,  and  an  inter- 
preter. He  received  me  with  a  hearty  shake  of  the 
hand,  and  presented  me  to  the  other  chiefs,  who  shook 
my  hand  cordially,  and  seemed  much  pleased  to  see 
me.  After  I  was  seated.  Col.  Dixon  said  :  "  Gen. 
Black  Hawk,  I  sent  for  you,  to  explain  to  you  what 
we  are  going  to  do,  and  the  reasons  diat  have  brought 
us  here.  Our  friend.  La  Gutrie,  informs  us  in  the  let- 
ter you  brought  from  him,  what  has  lately  taken  place. 
You  will  now  have  to  hold  us  fast  by  the  hand.  Your 
English  father  has  found  out  that  the  Americans  want 
to  take  your  country  from  you — and  has  sent  me  and 


a 


■^i'lA 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


41 


I  I 


bis  braves  to  drive  tbern  back  to  their  own  country. 
He  has,  hkev/ise,  sent  a  large  quantity  of  arms  and 
ammunition — and  we  want  all  your  warriors  to 
join  us." 

He  then  placed  a  medal  round  my  neck,  and  gave 
me  a  paper,  (which  I  lost  in  the  late  war,)  and  a  silk 
flag,  saying — "You  are  to  command  all  the  braves 
that  will  leave  here  thi  day  after  to-morrow,  to  join 
our  braves  near  Detioit." 

I  told  him  that  I  was  very  much  disappointed — as  I 
wanted  to  descend  the  Mississippi,  and  make  war  upon 
the  settlements.  He  said  he  had  been  "ordered  to 
lay  the  country  waste  around  St.  Louis — that  he  had 
been  a  trader  on  the  Mississippi  many  years — had  al- 
ways been  kindly  treated,  and  could  not  consent  to 
send  brave  men  to  murder  women  and  children  1 
That  there  were  no  soldiers  there  to  fight ;  but  where 
he  wa^  going  to  send  us,  there  were  a  number  of  sol- 
diers :  and,  if  we  defeated  them,  the  Mississippi  coun- 
try should  be  ours  !  "  I  was  pleased  with  this  speech ; 
-^  was  spoken  by  a  brave !  •* 

I  inquired  about  my  old  friend,  the  trader,  at  Peoria, 
and  observed,  "  that  I  expected  he  would  have  been 
here  before  me."  He  shook  his  head,  and  said  he 
"  had  sent  express  after  express  to  him,  and  had  of- 
fered him  large  sums  of  money,  to  come,  and  bring 
all  the  Pottowatomies  and  Kickapoos  with  him  ;  but 
he  refused,  saying,  '  your  British  father  had  not  raon- 

cnoup-h  to  induce  him  to  ioin  us!'     I  have  now 


cy 


igh 


ill 


join 


;i 


Xk\ 


f 


"IF 


42 


LIFE  OP  blacb:  hawk. 


»^^;.H 


laid  a  trap  for  him.  I  have  sent  Gomo,  and  a  party 
of  Indians,  to  take  hiin  prisoner,  and  bring  him  here 
alive.     I  expect  him  in  a  few  days." 

The  next  day,  arms  and  ammunition,  tomahawks, 
knives,  and  clothing,  were  given  to  my  band.  We 
had  a  great  feast  in  the  evening;  and  the  morning 
following,  I  started  with  about  five  hundred  braves^  to 
join  the  British  army.  The  British  war  chief  accom- 
pa-iied  us.  We  passed  Chicago.  The  fort  had  been 
evacuated  l  '  ♦  American  soldiers,  who  had  marched 
for  fort  Wayne.  They  were  attacked  a  short  distance 
from  that  fort,  and  defeated !  They  had  a  consider- 
able quantity  of  powder  in  the  fort  at  Chicago,  which 
they  had  promised  to  the  Indians  ;  but  the  night  be- 
fore they  marched,  they  destroyed  it.  I  diink  it  was 
thrown  into  the  well !  If  they  had  fulfilled  their  word 
to  the  Indians,  I  think  they  would  have  gone  safe. 

On  our  arrival,  I  found  that  the  Indians  had  several 
prisoners.  I  advised  them  to  treat  them  well.  We 
continued  our  march,  and  joined  the  British  army  be- 
low Detroit ;  and  soon  after  had  a  fight !  The  Amer- 
icans fought  well,  and  drove  us  with  considerable  loss  I 
I  was  surprised  at  this,  as  I  had  been  told  that  the 
Americans  could  not  fight ! 

Our  next  movement  was  against  a  fortified  place. 
I  was  stationed,  with  my  braves,  to  prevent  any  person 
going  to,  or  coming  from  the  fort.  I  found  two  men 
taking  care  of  cattle,  and  took  them  prisoners.  I 
would  not  kill  them,  but  delivered  them  to  the  British 


I 


LIFE    OP    BLACK    HAWK. 


43 


% 


4i 


T 


war  chief.  Soon  after,  several  boats  came  down  the 
river,  full  of  American  soldiers.  They  landed  on  the 
opposite  side,  took  the  British  batteries,  and  pursued 
the  soldiers  that  had  left  them.  They  went  too  far, 
without  knowing  the  forces  of  the  British,  and  were 
defeated !  I  hurried  across  the  river,  anxious  for  an 
oppOiiUnity  to  show  the  courage  of  my  braves ;  but 
before  we  reached  the  ground,  all  was  over !  The 
British  had  taken  many  prisoners,  and  the  Indians 
were  killing  them  !  I  immediately  put  a  stop  to  it,  as 
I  never  thought  it  brave,  but  cowardly,  to  kill  an  un- 
armed and  helpless  enemy ! 

We  remained  here  some  time.  I  cannot  detail 
what  took  place,  as  I  was  stationed,  with  my  braves, 
in  the  woods.  It  appeared,  however,  that  the  British 
could  not  take  this  fort — for  we  were  marched  to  an- 
other some  distance  off.  When  we  approached  it,  I 
found  it  a  small  stockade^  and  concluded  that  there 
were  not  many  men  in  it.  The  British  war  chief  sent 
a  flag — Colonel  Dixon  carried  it,  and  returned.  He 
said  a  young  war  chief  commanded,  and  would  not 
give  up  without  fighting  I  Dixon  came  to  me  and 
said,  "  you  will  see,  to-morrow,  how  easily  we  will 
take  that  fort."  I  was  of  opinion  that  they  would 
take  it ;  but  when  the  morning  came,  I  was  disap- 
pointed. The  British  advanced — commenced  an  at- 
tack, and  fought  like  braves ;  but  by  braves  in  the 
fort,  were  defeated,  and  a  great  number  killed  !  The 
British  army  were  making* preparations  to  retreat.    I 


''•m 


m 


i  I 


i  \ 


:-f  N 


!     (' 


):. 


,1    ' 


:\ 


mt 


4 


III 


It,  1 

sir      .' 


44 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


was  now  tired  of  being  with  tlicni — our  success  being 
bad,  and  having  got  no  plunder.  I  determined  on 
leaving  them  and  returning  to  Rock  river,  to  see  what 
had  become  of  my  wife  and  children,  -^s  I  had  not 
heard  from  them  since  I  started.  That  night,  I  took 
about  twenty  of  my  braves,  and  left  the  British  camp 
for  home.  We  met  no  person  on  our  journey  until 
we  reached  the  Illinois  river.  Here  we  found  two 
lodges  of  Potto watomies.  They  received  us  very 
friendly,  and  gave  us  something  to  eat ;  and  inquired 
about  iheir  friends  that  were  with  the  British.  They 
said  diere  had  been  some  fighting  on  the  Illinois,  and 
that  my  old  friend,  the  trader  at  Peoria,  had  been  tak- 
en prisoner  !  ''By  Gomo  and  his  party?  "  I  imme- 
diately inquired.  They  said  "  no  ;  but  by  the  Ameri- 
cans, who  came  up  with  two  boats.  They  took  him 
and  the  French  settlers,  and  then  burnt  the  village  of 
Peoria ."  They  could  give  us  no  news  respecting  our 
people  on  Rock  river.  In  three  days  more,  we 
were  in  the  vicinity  of  our  village,  when  I  dis- 
covered a  smoke  ascending  from  a  hollow  in  the 
bluffs.  I  directed  my  party  to  proceed  to  the  vil- 
lage, as  I  wished  to  go  alone  to  the  place  from 
whence  the  smoke  proceeded,  to  see  who  was  there. 
I  approached  the  spot,  and  when  I  came  in  view  of 
the  fire,  saw  a  mat  stretched,  and  an  old  man  sitdng 
under  it  in  sorrow.  At  any  other  time,  I  would  have 
turned  away  without  disturbing  him — knowing  that  he 
had  come  there  to  be  alone,  to  humble  himself  before 


f  f 


LIFE   OF   BLACK   HAWK. 


46 


■I 


s 


the  Great  Spirit,  that  he  might  take  pity  on  liim  !  I 
approached  and  seated  myself  beside  him.  He  gave 
one  look  at  me,  and  then  fixed  his  eyes  on  the  ground ! 
It  was  my  old  friend  !  I  anxiously  inquired  for  his 
son,  (my  adopted  child,)  and  what  had  befallen  our 
people  ?  My  old  comrade  seemed  scarcely  alive — ^he 
must  have  fasted  a  long  time.  I  lighted  my  pipe,  and 
put  it  in  his  mouth.  He  eagerly  drew  a  few  puffs — 
cast  up  his  eyes,  which  met  mine,  and  recognized  me. 
His  eyes  were  glassy  !  He  would  again  have  fallen 
off  into  forgetfulness,  had  I  not  given  him  some  water, 
which  revived  him.  I  again  inquired,  "  what  has  be- 
fallen our  people,  and  what  has  become  of  our  son  ? " 
In  a  feeble  voice,  he  said  :  **  Soon  after  your  depar- 
ture to  join  the  British,  I  descended  the  river  with  a 
small  party,  to  winter  at  the  place  I  told  you  the  white 
man  had  requested  me  to  come  to.  When  we  arriv- 
ed, I  found  a  fort  built,  and  the  white  family  that  had 
invited  me  to  come  and  hunt  near  them,  had  removed 
to  it.  I  then  paid  a  visit  to  the  fort,  to  tell  the  white 
people  that  myself  and  little  band  were  friendly,  and 
that  we  wished  to  hunt  in  the  vicinity  of  their  f  jrt. 
The  war  chief  who  commanded  it,  told  me,  that  we 
might  hunt  on  the  Illinois  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
no  person  would  trouble  us.  That  the  horsemen  only 
ranged  on  the  Missouri  side,  and  he  had  directed  them 
not  to  cross  the  river.  I  was  pleased  with  this  assu- 
rance of  safety,  and  immediately  crossed  over  and 
made  my  winter's  camp.     Game  was  plenty ;  we  liv- 


■i\ 


I 


Ml 


f  1 


: 


\  1 


m 


m 


46 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


ed  happy,  and  often  talked  of  you.  My  boy  regretted 
your  ab^nce,  and  the  hardships  you  would  have  to 
undergo.  We  had  been  here  about  two  moons,  when 
my  boy  went  out,  as  usual,  to  hunt.  Night  came  on, 
and  he  did  not  return  !  1  was  alarmed  for  his  safety, 
and  passed  a  sleepless  night.  In  the  morning,  my  old 
woman  went  to  the  other  lodges  and  gave  the  alarm — 
and  all  turned  out  in  pursuit.  There  being  snow  on 
the  ground,  they  soon  came  upon  his  track,  and  after 
pursuing  it  some  distance,  found  he  was  On  the  trail  of 
a  deer,  that  led  towards  the  river.  They  soon  came 
to  the  place  where  he  "had  stood  and  fired,  and  found  a 
deer  hanging  upon  the  branch  of  a  tree,  which  had 
been  skinned.  But  here  were  found  the  trades  of 
white  men !  They  had  taken  my  boy  prisoner.  Their 
tracks  led  across  the  river,  and  then  down  towards  the 
fort.  My  friends  followed  them,  and  soon  found  my 
boy  lying  dead  !  He  had  been  most  cruelly  murder- 
ed !  His  face  was  shot  to  pieces — his  body  stabbed 
in  several  places — and  his  head  scalded!  His  arms 
were  tied  behind  him  1 " 

The  old  man  paused  for  some  time,  and  then  told 
me  that  his  wife  had  died  on  her  way  up  the  Missis- 
sippi !  I  took  the  hand  of  my  old  friend  in  mine,  and 
pledged  myself  to  avenge  the  death  of  his  son  !  It 
was  now  dark — a  terrible  storm  commenced  raging, 
with  heavy  torrents  of  rain,  thunder  and  lightning.  I 
had  taken  my  blanket  off  and  wrapped  it  around  the 
old  man.     When  the  storm  abated,  I  kindled  a  fire, 


it— I 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


47 


on, 


and  took  liold  of  my  old  friend  to  remove  him  near  to 
it — but  he  was  dead !  I  remained  widi  him  tlie  bal- 
ance of  the  night.  Some  of  my  party  came  early  in 
the  morning  to  look  for  me,  and  assisted  me  in  bury- 
ing him  on  the  peak  of  the  blulT.  I  then  returned  to 
the  village  with  my  friends.  I  visited  the  grave  of  my 
old  friend  the  last  time,  as  I  ascended  Rock  river. 

On  my  arrival  at  the  village,  I  was  met  by  the  chiefs 
and  braves,  and  conducted  to  a  lodge  that  had  been 
prepared  to  receive  me.  After  eating,  I  gave  an  ac- 
count of  what  I  had  seen  and  done.  I  explained  to 
them  the  manner  the  British  and  Americans  fought. 
Instead  of  stealing  upon  each  other,  and  taking  every 
advantage  to  kill  the  enemy  and  save  their  oivn  people, 
as  we  do,  (which,  with  us,  is  considered  good  policy  in 
a  war  chief,)  they  march  out,  in  open  daylight,  and 
fight,  regardless  of  the  number  of  warriors  they  may 
lose !  After  the  battle  is  over,  they  retire  to  feast, 
and  drink  wine,  as  if  nothing  had  happened  ;  after 
which,  they  make  a  statement  in  writing,  of  what  they 
have  done — each  party  claiming  the  victory  I  and  neither 
giving  an  account  of  half  the  number  that  have  been 
killed  on  their  own  side.  They  all  fought  like  braves, 
but  would  not  do  to  had  a  war  party  with  us.  Our 
maxim  is,  "  to  Mil  the  enemy  and  save  our  own  men,^^ 
Those  chiefs  would  do  to  paddle  a  canoe,  but  not  to 
steer  it.  The  Americans  shoot  better  than  the  Brit- 
ish, but  their  soldiers  are  not  so  well  clothed,  or  pro- 
vided for. 


\i. 


'l! 


1: 


t;; 


'I 


''i 


if 


•«;„ 


f 


48 


LIFR   OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


v:  M 


The  village  chief  informed  me  that  after  I  started 
widi  my  hraves  and  the  parties  who  followed,  the  na- 
tion was  reduced  to  3o  small  a  party  of  fighting  men, 
that  they  would  have  been  unable  to  defend  them- 
selves, if  the  Americans  had  attacked  them  ;  that  all 
the  women  and  children,  and  old  men,  belonging  to 
tiie  warriors  who  had  joined  the  I^ritish,  were  left  with 
them  to  provide  for ;  and  that  a  council  was  held, 
which  agreed  that  Quash-qua-me,  the  Lance,  and  oth- 
er chiefs,  with  the  old  men,  women,  and  children,  and 
such  odiers  as  chose  to  accompany  diem,  should  de- 
scend the  Mississippi  and  go  to  St.  Louis,  and  place 
themselves  under  the  projection  of  the  American  chief 
stationed  there.  They  accordingly  went  down  to  St. 
Louis,  and  were  received  as  the  friendly  band  of  our 
nation — sent  up  the  Missouri,  and  provided  for,  whilst 
their  friends  were  assisting  the  British  ! 

Ke-O'kuck  was  then  introduced  to  me  as  the  war- 
chief  of  the  braves  then  in  the  village.  I  inquired 
how  he  had  become  a  chief.  They  said  that  a  large 
armed  force  was  seen  by  their  spies,  going  towards 
Peoria ;  that  fears  were  entertained  that  they  would 
come  upon  and  attack  our  village  ;  and  that  a  council 
had  been  convened  to  decide  upon  the  best  course  to 
be  adopted,  which  concluded  upon  leaving  the  village 
and  going  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  to  get 
out  of  the  way,  Ke-o-kuck,  during  the  sitting  of  the 
council,  had  been  standing  at  the  door  of  the  lodge, 
(not  being  allowed  to  enter,  having  never  killed  an  ea- 


s 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


49 


i 


1 


emy,)  where  he  remained  until  old  Wa-co-me  came 
out.  He  then  told  him  that  he  had  heard  what  they 
had  decided  upon,  and  was  anxious  to  be  permitted  to 
go  in  and  speak,  before  the  council  adjourned  !  Wa- 
co-me  returned,  and  asked  leave  for  Ke-o-kuck  to 
come  in  and  make  a  speech.  His  request  was  grant- 
ed. Ke-o-kuck  entered,  and  addressed  the  chiefs. 
He  said,  "  I  have  heard  with  sorrow,  that  you  have 
determined  to  leave  our  village,  and  cross  the  Missis- 
sippi, merely  because  you  have  been  told  that  the 
Americans  were  seen  coming  in  this  direction  !  Would 
you  leave  our  village,  desert  our  homes,  and  fly,  before 
an  enemy  approaches?  Would  you  leave  all — even 
the  graves  of  our  fathers,  to  the  mercy  of  an  enemy, 
without  trying  to  defend  them  1  Give  me  charge  of 
your  warriors ;  I'll  defend  the  village,  and  you  may 
sleep  in  safety  !  " 

The  council  consented  that  Ke-o-kuck  should  be  a 
war-chief.  He  marshalled  his  braves — sent  out  spies 
— and  advanced  with  a  party  himself,  on  the  trail 
leading  to  Peoria.  They  returned  without  seeing  an 
enemy.  The  Americans  did  not  come  by  our  vil- 
lage. All  were  well  satisfied  with  the  appointment  of 
Ke-o-kuck.  He  used  every  precaution  that  our  peo- 
ple should  not  be  surprised.  This  is  the  manner  in 
which,  and  the  cause  of,  his  receiving  the  appoint- 
ment. 

I  was  satisfied,  and  then  started  to  visit  my  wife 
and  children.  I  found  them  well,  and  my  boys  were 
5 


\A 


1. 


:-'  W 


ii 


•(I. 


I'Uil 


'"/' 


# 


50 


LirE    OF    BLACK    IIAVVK. 


growing  fniely.  It  is  not  customary  for  us  to  say 
mucl)  al)out  our  women,  as  tlicy  generally  perform 
their  j)art  cheerfully,  and  never  intorfcre  with  busi- 
ness beloniring  to  the  men  !  This  is  the  only  wife  I 
ever  had,  or'  ever  will  liave.  She  is  a  good  woman, 
and  teaches  my  boys  to  be  brave  !  Here  I  would 
have  rested  myself,  and  enjoyed  the  comforts  of  my 
lodge,  but  1  could  not :  I  had  promised  to  avenge  the 
death  of  my  adopted  son  ! 

I  immediately  collected  a  party  of  thirty  braves,  and 
explained  to  them  my  object  in  making  this  war  party 
— it  being  to  avenge  the  death  of  my  adopted  son, 
who  had  been  cruelly  and  wantonly  murdered  by  tb*J 
whites.  I  explained  to  them  the  pledge  I  had  mi 
his  father,  and  told  tliem  that  they  were  the  last 
words  that  he  had  heard  spoken  !  All  were  willing 
to  go  with  me,  to  fulfil  my  word.  We  started  in  ca- 
noes, and  descended  the  Mississippi,  until  we  arrived 
near  the  place  where  fort  Madison  had  stood.  It  had 
been  abandoned  by  the  whites  and  burnt ;  nothing  re- 
mained but  the  chimneys.  We  were  pleased  to  see 
that  the  white  people  had  retired  from  our  country. 
We  proceeded  down  the  river  again.  I  landed,  with 
one  brave,  near  Capo  Gray ;  the  remainder  of  the 
party  went  to  the  raoudi  of  the  Quiver.  I  hurried 
across  to  the  trail  that  led  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Quiver  to  a  fort,  and  soon  after  heard  firing  at  the 
mouth  of  the  creek.  Myself  and  brave  concealed  our- 
selves on  the  side  of  the  road.     W^e  had  not  remained 


hi 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


51 


Iiere  long,  before  two  men  riding  one  horse,  came  in 
full  speed  from  the  direction  of  the  sound  of  the  firing. 
When  they  came  sufficiently  near,  we  fired ;  the 
horse  jumped,  and  both  men  fell !  We  rushed  to- 
wards diem — one  rose  and  ran.  I  followed  him,  and 
was  gaining  on  him,  wlien  he  ran  over  a  pile  of  rails 
that  had  lately  been  made,  seized  a  stick,  and  struck 
at  me.  I  now  had  an  opportunity  to  see  his  face — I 
knew  him  !  He  had  been  at  Quash-qua-me's  village 
to  learn  his  people  how  to  plough.  We  looked  upon 
him  as  a  good  man.  I  did  not  wish  to  kill  him,  and 
pursued  hii.T  no  further.  I  returned  and  met  my 
brave  ;  he  said  he  had  killed  the  )ther  man,  and  had 
his  scalp  in  his  hand  !  We  had  not  proceeded  far, 
before  we  met  the  man,  supposed  to  be  killed,  cominc 
up  the  road,  staggering  like  a  drunken  man,  all  cov- 
ered with  blood !  This  was  the  most  terrible  sight 
I  had  ever  seen.  I  told  my  comrade  to  Tcill  him,  to 
put  him  out  of  his  misery  !  I  could  not  look  at  him. 
I  passed  on,  and  heard  a  rustling  in  the  bushes,  and 
distinctly  saw  two  little  boys  concealing  themselves ! 
I  diought  of  my  own  children,  and  passed  on  without 
noticing  them !  My  comrade  here  joined  me,  and  in  a 
little  while  we  met  the  balance  of  our  party.  I  told 
them  that  we  would  be  pursued,  and  directed  them  to 
follow  me.  We  crossed  the  creek,  and  formed  our- 
selves in  the  timber.  We  had  not  been  here  long, 
before  a  party  of  mounted  men  rushed  at  full  speed 
upon  us !     I  took  deliberate  aim,  and  shot  the  man. 


1.  ' 


n 


it 


r' 

'■  ■ 


il 


1:1 


I 


62 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


leading  the  part)  ,  Ho  fell  from  his  horse  lifeless ! 
All  my  people  fired,  but  without  effect.  The  enemy 
rushed  upon  us  without  giving  us  time  to  reload, 
They  surrounded  us,  and  forced  us  to  run  into  a  deep 
sink-holf!,  at  the  bottom  of  which  there  weir  some 
bushes.  We  loaded  our  guns,  and  awaited  the  ap- 
proach of  the  ecemy.  They  rushed  to  the  edge 
of  the  hole  and  fired,  killing  one  of  our  men.  We 
returned  the  fire  instantly,  and  killed  one  of  their 
pp.rty  !  We  reloaded,  and  commenced  digging  holes 
in  tiie  side  of  the  bank  to  protect  ourselves,  whilst  a 
party  watched  the  movements  of  the  enemy,  expect- 
ing tliat  their  whole  force  would  be  upon  us  imme- 
diately. Some  of  my  warriors  commenced  singing 
their  death-songs !  I  heard  the  whites  talking — and 
called  to  them,  "to  come  out  and  fight !  "  I  did  not 
like  my  situation,  and  wished  the  matter  settled.  I 
soon  heard  chopping  and  knocking.  I  could  not  im- 
agine what  they  were  doing.  Soon  after  they  run  up 
wheels  with  a  battery  on  it,  and  fired  down  without 
hurting  any  of  us.  I  called  :;o  them  ag^.in,  and  told 
them  if  they  were  "  bi'avc  men,  lo  come  down  and 
fight  us."  They  gave  up  the  siege,  and  returned  to 
their  fort  about  dusk.  There  were  eighteen  in  this 
trap  with  me.  We  all  got  out  safe,  and  found  one 
white  man  dead  on  the  edge  of  the  sink-hole.  They 
did  not  remove  him,  for  fear  of  our  fire.  We  scalped 
him,  and  placed  our  dead  man  upon  him  1  We  could 
not  have  left  him  in  a  better  situation,  than  on  an 
enemy ! 


I  f 


^m 


)     1 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


53 


We  bad  now  effected  our  purpose,  and  started  buck 
by  land-  -tbinking  it  unsafe  to  return  in  our  canoes. 
I  found  my  wife  and  cbildren,  and  tbe  greater  part 
of  our  people,  at  the  mouth  of  tbe  lovvay  river.  I 
now  determined  to  remain  with  my  family,  and  hunt 
for  them  ;  and  bumble  myself  before  tbe  Great  Spirit, 
and  return  thanks  to  him  for  preserving  me  through 
the  war ! 

I  made  my  hunting  camp  on  English  river,  (a 
branch  of  the  loway.)  During  the  winter  a  party 
of  Pottowatomies  came  from  the  Illinois  to  pay  me  a 
visit — among  them  was  Wash-e-own,  an  old  man,  that 
had  formerly  lived  in  our  village.  He  informed  us, 
that,  in  the  fall,  the  Americans  had  built  a  fort  at 
Peoria,  and  had  prevented  them  from  going  down  to 
the  Sangomo  to  hunt.  He  said  they  were  very 
much  distressed — that  Gomo  hffd  rt*urned  from  the 
British  army,  and  brought  news  of  their  defeat  near 
Maiden  ;  and  told  us  that  he  went  to  the  American 
chief  with  a  flag  ;  gave  up  fighting,  and  told  the  chief 
that  he  wished  to  make  peace  for  bis  nation.  The 
American  chief  gave  him  a  paper  for  the  war  chief  at 
the  fort  at  Peoria,  and  I  visited  that  fort  with  Gomo. 
It  was  then  agreed  ».hut  there  shou'd  be  no  more 
fighting  between  the  Americans  and  Pottowatomies ; 
ana  that  two  of  their  chiefs,  and  eight  braves,  with 
five  Americans,  bad  gone  down  to  St.  Louis  to  have 
the  peace  confirmed.  This,  said  Wash-e-own,  is  good 
news ;  for  we  can  now  go  to  our  hunting-grounds ; 
5* 


W 


> , 


W 


'It 


'  6, 


•  ? 
\ 


v\ 


M\ 


54 


LIFE    OF   LLaCK    HAWK. 


i  ■( 


I 


and,  for  my  part,  I  never  had  any  thing  to  do  with 
this  war.  The  Americans  never  killed  any  of  our 
people  before  the  war,  nor  interfered  with  our  hunt- 
ing grounds  ;  and  I  resolved  to  do  nothing  against 
them  !  I  made  no  reply  to  these  remarks,  as  the 
speaker  was  old,  and  talked  like  a  child  ! 

We  gave  the  Pottowa.omies  a  feast.  I  presented 
Wash-e-own  with  a  good  horse ;  my  braves  gave 
one  to  each  of  his  party,  and,  at  parting,  they  said 
they  wislied  us  to  make  peace — which  we  did  not 
promise — but  told  them  that  we  would  not  send  out 
war  parties  against  the  settlements. 

A  short  time  after  the  Pottowatomies  left,  a  par- 
ty of  thirty  braves,  belonging  to  our  nation,  from 
the  peace  camp  on  the  Missouri,  paid  us  a  visit. 
They  exhibited  five  scalps,  which  they  had  taken 
on  the  Missouri,  and  wished  us  to  dance  over  them, 
which  we  willingly  joined  in.  They  related  the 
manner  in  which  they  had  taken  these  scalps. 
Myself  and  braves  then  showed  the  two  we  had 
taken,  near  the  Quiver,  and  told  them  the  reason 
that  induced  that  war  party  to  go  out ;  as  well  as 
the  manner,  and  difficulty  we  had  in  obtaining  these 
scalps. 

They  recounted  to  us  all  that  had  taken  place — 
the  number  that  had  been  killed  by  the  peace  par- 
ty,  as  they  were  called  and  recognized — which  far 
surpassed  what  our  warriors,  who  had  joined  the 
British,  had  done  !     This  party  came  for   the   pur- 


turi 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


55 


:-i 


m 


pose  of  joining  the  British  !  I  ad7!'=pd  them  to  re- 
turn to  the  peace  party,  and  told  them  the  news 
that  the  Pottowatomies  had  brought.  They  re- 
turned to  the  Missouri,  accompanied  by  some  of 
my  braves,  whose  famihes  were  with  the  peace 
party. 

After  sugar-making  was  over,  in  the  spring,  I  vis- 
ited the  Fox  village,  at  the  lead  mines.  They  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  war,  and  were  not  in  mourn- 
ing. I  remained  there  some  days,  and  spent  my 
time  pleasandy  with  them,  in  dancing  and  feasting. 
I  then  paid  a  visit  to  the  Pottowatomie  village,  on 
the  Illinois  river,  and  learned  that  Sa-na-tu-wa  and 
Ta-ta-puc-key  had  been  to  St.  Louis.  Gomo  told  me 
*'  that  peace  liSid  been  made  between  his  people  and 
the  Americans,  and  that  seven  of  his  party  remained 
with  the  war  chief  to  make  the  peace  stronger!" 
He  then  tcld  me  that  "  Wash-^-own  was  dead ! 
That  he  had  been  to  the  fort,  to  carry  some  wild 
fowl,  to  exchange  for  tobacco,  pipes,  &tc  That  he 
had  got  some  tobacco  and  a  little  flour,  and  left  the 
fort  before  sun-down ;  but  had  not  proceeded  far 
before  he  was  shot  dead,  by  a  war  chief  who  had 
concealed  himself  near  the  path,  for  that  purpose  ! 
— and  dien  dragged  him  to  the  lake  and  threw  him 
in,  where  I  afterwards  found  him.  I  have  since  given 
two  horses  and  my  rifl  \)  his  relations,  not  to  break 
the  peace — which  they  had  agreed  to." 

I  remained  some  time  at  the  village  with  Gomo,  and 


I' 


*u 


(; 


in 


li 


ru 


I:    . 

i      - 

■     ; 

i  1 

1 

\  1 

t 

(  .< 

^    il 

"1  ;  ; 

i 

iryriifM- 


66 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


W 


lii 


V'H 

III 


went  with  him  to  the  fort  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  'VPI- 
chief.  I  spoke  the  Pottowatomie  tongue  well,  and 
was  taken  for  one  of  their  people  by  the  chief.  He 
treated  us  very  friendly,  and  said  he  was  very  much 
displeased  about  the  murder  of  Wash-e-own,  and 
would  find  out,  and  punish  the  person  that  killed  him. 
He  made  some  inquiries  about  the  Sacs,  w^hich  I  an- 
swered. 

On  my  return  to  Rock  river,  I  was  informed  that  a 
party  of  soldiers  had  gone  up  the  Mississippi  to  build 
a  fort  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  They  had  stopped  near 
our  village,  and  appeared  to  be  friendly,  and  were 
kindly  treated  by  our  people. 

We  commenced  repairing  our  lodges,  putting  our 
village  in  order,  and  clearing  our  corn-fields.  We  di- 
vided the  fields  of  the  party  on  the  Missouri,  among 
those  that  wanted,  on  condition  that  they  should  be 
relinquished  to  the  owners,  when  they  returned  from 
the  peace  establishment.  We  were  again  happy  in  our 
village  :  our  women  went  cheerfully  to  work,  and  all 
moved  on  harmoniously. 

Some  time  afterwards,  five  or  six  boats  arrived, 
loaded  with  soldiers,  going  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  to  re- 
inforce the  garrison.  They  appeared  friendly,  and 
were  well  received.  We  held  a  council  with  the  war 
chief  We  had  no  intention  of  hurting  him,  or  any 
of  his  party,  or  we  could  easily  have  defeated  them. 
They  remained  with  us  all  day,  and  sed,  and  gave 
us,  plenty  of  whiskey  !     During  the  r.ight  a  party  ar- 


h 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


57 


rived,  (who  came  down  Rock  river,)  and  brought  us 
six  kegs  of  powder  !  They  told  us  that  the  British  had 
gone  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  taken  the  fort,  and 
wished  us  to  join  them  again  in  the  war,  which  we 
agreed  to.  I  collected  my  warriors,  and  determined 
to  pursue  the  boats,  which  had  sailed  with  a  fair  wind. 
If  we  had  known  the  day  before,  we  could  easily  have 
taken  them  all,  as  the  war  chief  used  no  precautions 
to  prevent  it.  I  immediately  started  with  my  party, 
by  land,  in  pursuit — thinking  that  some  of  their  boats 
might  get  aground,  or  that  the  Great  Spirit  would  put 
tliem  in  our  power,  if  he  wished  them  taken,  and  their 
people  killed  !  About  half  way  up  the  rapids,  I  had 
a  full  view  of  the  boats,  all  sailing  with  a  strong  wind. 
I  soon  discovered  thot  one  boat  was  badly  managed, 
and  was  suffered  to  be  driven  ashore  by  the  wind. 
They  landed,  by  running  hard  aground,  and  lowered 
their  sail.  The  others  packed  on.  This  boat  the 
Great  Spirit  gave  us !  We  approached  it  cautiously, 
and  fired  upon  the  men  on  shore.  All  that  could, 
hurried  aboard,  but  they  were  unable  to  push  off,  be- 
ing fast  aground.  We  advanced  to  the  river's  bank, 
under  cover,  and  commenced  firing  at  the  boat.  Our 
balls  passed  through  the  plank,  and  did  execution,  as  I 
could  hear  them  screaming  in  the  boat !  I  encouraged 
Tfiy  braves  to  continue  firing.  Several  guns  were  fired 
from  the  boat,  without  effect.  I  prepared  my  bow 
and  arrows  to  throw  fire  to  the  sail,  which  was  lying 
on  the  boat ;  and,  after  two  or  three  attempts,  suc- 
ceeded in  setting  the  sail  on  fire. 


Ii^ 


4'' 


1 1 


I 


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.    11 


^:* 


! 


;  f'l. 


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i  i 

,.■:■!  ^ 

1 ' 
'.'?  ^ 

i   •  'i 

■ »  .  ' 

i:.' 

r 


\i 


58 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


Tlie  boat  was  soon  in  flames  !  About  this  time,  one 
of  tlie  boats  that  had  passed,  returned,  dropped  an- 
clior,  and  swung  in  close  to  the  boat  on  fire,  and  took 
off  all  the  people,  except  those  killed  and  badly 
wounded.  We  could  distinctly  see  them  passing  from 
one  boat  to  the  other,  and  fired  on  them  with  good 
aim.  We  wounded  the  war  chief  in  this  way  !  An- 
other boat  now  came  down,  dropped  her  anchor, 
which  did  not  take  hold,  and  was  drifted  ashore  ! 
The  other  boat  cut  her  cable  and  rowed  down  the 
river,  leaving  their  comrades  without  attempting  to  as- 
sist them.  We  then  commenced  an  attack  upon  this 
boat,  and  fired  several  rounds.  They  did  not  return 
the  fire.  We  thought  they  were  afraid,  or  had  but  a 
small  number  on  board.  I  therefore  ordered  a  rush  to 
the  boat.  When  we  got  near,  they  fired,  and  killed 
two  of  our  people,  being  all  that  we  lost  in  the  en- 
gagement. Some  of  their  men  jumped  out  and  push- 
ed off  the  boat,  and  dius  got  away  without  losing  a 
man !  I  had  a  good  opinion  of  this  war  chief — he 
managed  so  much  better  than  the  others.  It  would 
give  me  pleasure  to  shake  him  by  the  hand. 

We  now  put  out  the  fire  on  the  captured  boat,  to 
save  the  cargo ;  when  a  skiff  was  discovered  coming 
down  the  river.  Some  of  our  people  cried  out, 
"here  comes  an  express  from  Prairie  du  Chien  !" 
We  hoisted  the  British  flag,  but  they  would  not  land. 
They  turned  their  litde  boat  around,  and  row^ed  up  the 
river.  We  directed  a  few  shots  at  them,  in  order  to 
bring  them  to ;  but  they  were  so  far  off  that  we  could 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


59 


r 

j  nol  hurt  them.     I  found  several  barrels  of  whiskey 

on  the  captured  boat,  and  knocked  in  their  heads  and 
emptied  out  the  had  medicine !  I  next  found  a  box 
full  of  small  bottles  and  packages,  which  appeared  to 
be  had  medicine  also ;  such  as  the  medicine-men  kill 
the  white  people  with  v.hen  they  get  sick.  This  I 
threw  into  the  river  ;  and  continuing  my  search  for 
plunder,  found  several  guns,  large  barrels  full  of  cloth- 
ing, and  some  cloth  lodges,  all  of  which  I  distributed 
among  my  warriors.  We  now  disposed  of  the  dead, 
and  returned  to  the  Fox  village,  opposite  die  lower 
cad  of  Rock  Island  ;  where  we  put  up  our  new  lodg- 
es and  hoisted  the  British  flag.  A  great  many  of  our 
braves  were  dressed  in  the  uniform  clothing  which  we 
had  taken,  which  gave  our  encampment  the  appear- 
ance of  a  regular  camp  of  soldiers  !  We  placed  out 
sentinels,  and  commenced  dancing  over  the  scalps  we 
had  taken.  Soon  after,  several  boats  passed  down ; 
among  them,  a  large  boat  carrying  big  guns  !  Our 
young  men  followed  them  some  distance,  firing  at 
them,  but  could  not  do  much  damage,  more  than  to 
friditen  them.  We  w^ere  now  certain  that  the  fort  at 
Prairie  du  Chien  had  been  taken,  as  this  large  boat 
went  up  with  the  first  party,  who  built  the  fort. 

In  the  course  of  the  day  some  of  the  British  came 
down  in  a  small  boat ;  they  had  followed  the  large 
one,  thinking  she  would  get  fast  in  the  rapids,  In  which 
case  they  were  certain  of  taking  her.  They  had 
summoned   her  on  the  way  down    to  surrender,  but 


■       ^ 


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1 1  ' 

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1, 

J 

i 

, ,: 

i 

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I 


il 


CO 


LIFE    OF    BFiACK    HAWK. 


tl- 


she  refused ;  and  now,  that  si.e  had  passed  over  the 
rapids  in  safety,  all  hope  of  taking  her  had  van- 
ished. 

The  Britii^h  landed  a  hig  gun,  and  gave  us  three 
soldiers  to  manage  it.  They  complimented  us  for  our 
bravery  in  taking  the  boat,  and  told  us  what  they  had 
done  at  Prairie  du  Chien ;  gave  us  a  keg  of  rum,  and 
joined  with  us  in  our  dancing  and  feasting  1  We  gave 
them  some  diings  which  we  had  taken  from  the  boat 
— particularly  books  and  papers.  They  started  the 
next  morning,  after  promising  to  return  in  a  few  days 
with  a  large  body  of  soldiers. 

We  went  to  work,  under  the  directions  of  die  men 
left  with  us,  and  dug  up  the  ground  in  two  places,  to 
put  the  big  gun  in,  that  the  men  might  remain  in  with 
it,  and  be  safe.  We  then  sent  spies  down  the  river  to 
reconnoitre,  who  sent  word  by  a  ruimer,  that  several 
boats  were  coming  up,  filled  with  men.  I  marshalled 
my  forces,  and  was  soon  ready  for  their  arrival,  and 
resolved  to  fight — as  we  had  not  yet  had  a  fair  fight 
with  die  Americans  during  the  war.  The  boats  arriv- 
ed in  the  evening,  and  stopped  at  a  small  willow  island, 
nearly  opposite  to  us.  During  the  night  we  removed 
our  hig  gun  further  down,  and  at  daylight  next  morn- 
ing, commenced  firing.  We  were  pleased  to  see  that 
almost  every  fire  took  effect,  striking  the  boats  nearly 
every  shot.  They  pushed  off  as  quick  as  possible  ; 
and  I  expected  would  land  and  give  a  fight.  I  was 
prepared   to   meet  them — but  was  soon  sadly  disajp- 


LIFE    OF   BLACK   HAWK. 


61 


pointed ! — the  boats  having  all  started  down  the  river. 
A  party  of  braves  followed  to  watch  where  they  land- 
ed ;  but  they  did  not  stop  u'ltil  they  got  below  the 
Des  Moines  rapids,  when  they  landed,  and  commenced 
building  a  fort. 

I  collected  a  few  braves,  and  started  to  the  place 
where  it  was  reported  they  were  making  a  fort.  I  did 
not  want  a  fort  in  our  country,  as  we  wished  to  go 
down  in  the  fall,  to  the  Two-River  country,  to  hunt — 
It  being  our  best  hunting  ground ;  and  we  concluded, 
that  if  this  fort  was  established,  we  should  be  prevent- 
ed from  going  to  our  hunting  ground.  I  arrived  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  fort  in  the  evening,  and  stopped  for  the 
night,  on  the  peak  of  a  high  bluff.  We  made  no  fire, 
for  fear  of  being  observed.  Our  young  men  kept 
watch  by  turns,  whilst  the  others  slept.  I  was  very 
tired,  and  soon  went  to  sleep.  The  Great  Spirit,  dur- 
ing my  slumber,  told  me  to  go  down  the  bluff  to  a 
creek — that  I  would  there  find  a  hollow  tree  cut 
down ;  to  look  into  the  top  of  it,  and  I  would  see  a 
large  snaJce — to  observe  the  direction  he  was  looking, 
and  I  would  see  the  enemy  close  by,  and  unarmed. 
In  the  morning,  I  communicated  to  my  braves  what 
the  Great  Spirit  had  told  me ;  and  took  one  of  them 
and  went  down  a  hollow  that  led  to  the  creek,  and 
soon  came  in  sight  of  the  place,  on  an  opposite  hill, 
where  they  were  building  the  fort.  I  saw  a  great  ma- 
ny men.  We  crawled  cautiously  on  our  hands  and 
knees,  until  we  got  into  the  bottom — ^then,  through  the 
6 


!'- 


■■!      I 


■I 


'      k  I 

s 


62 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


'J- 


Fl 


grass  and  weeds,  until  we  reached  the  bank  of  the 
creek.  Here  I  found  a  tree  that  had  been  cut  down. 
I  looked  in  the  top  of  it,  and  saw  a  large  snake,  with 
his  head  raised,  looking  across  the  creek.  1  raised  my- 
self cautiously,  and  discovered,  nearly  opposite  to  me, 
two  war  chiefs,  walking  arm-in-arm,  without  guns. 
They  turned,  and  walked  back  towards  the  place 
where  die  men  were  working  at  the  fort.  In  a  litde 
while  they  returned,  walking  immediately  towards  the 
spot  where  we  lay  concealed — but  did  not  come  as 
near  as  before.  If  they  had,  they  would  have  been 
killed — for  each  of  us  had  a  good  rifle.  We  crossed 
the  creek,  and  crawled  to  a  bunch  of  bushes.  I  again 
raised  myself  a  little,  to  see  if  they  were  coming ; 
but  they  went  into  the  fort.  By  diis  they  saved  their 
lives. 

We  recrossed  the  creek,  and  I  returned  alone — go- 
ing up  the  hollow  we  came  down.  My  brave  went 
down  the  creek ;  and,  on  rising  a  hill  to  die  left  of  the 
one  we  came  down,  I  could  plainly  see  the  men  at 
work ;  and  discovered,  in  the  bottom,  near  the  mouth 
o(  the  creek,  a  sentinel  walking.  I  watched  him  at- 
tentively, to  see  if  he  perceived  my  companion,  who 
had  gone  towards  him.  The  sentinel  walked  first  one 
way  and  then  back  again.  I  observed  my  brave 
creeping  towards  him.  The  sentinel  stopped  for 
some  time,  and  looked  in  the  direction  where  my 
brave  was  concealed.  He  laid  still,  and  did  not  move 
the  grass ;   and,  as  the  sentinel   turned  to  walk,  my 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


63 


i 


'i 


brave  fired  and  he  fell !  I  looked  towards  the  fort, 
and  saw  that  they  were  all  in  confusion — running  in 
every  direction — some  down  a  steep  bank  to  a  boat. 
My  comrade  joined  me,  and  we  returned  to  tlie  rest 
of  our  i^arty,  and  all  hurried  back  to  Rock  river, 
where  we  arrived  in  safety  at  our  village.  I  hung  up 
my  medicine  bag,  put  away  my  rifle  and  spear,  and 
felt  as  if  I  should  not  want  them  again,  as  I  had  no 
wish  to  raise  any  more  war  parties  against  the  whites, 
without  they  gave  new  provocation.  Nothing  particu- 
lar happened  from  this  time  until  spring,  except  news 
that  the  fort  below  the  rapids  had  been  abandoned 
and  burnt  by  the  Americans.     , 

Soon  after  I  returned  from  my  wintering  ground,  we 
received  information  that  peace  had  been  made  be- 
tween the  British  and  Americans,  and  that  we  were 
required  to  make  peace  also — and  were  invited  to  go 
down  to  Portage  des  Sioux,  for  that  purpose.  Some 
advised  that  we  should  go  down— others  that  we 
should  not.  No-mite,  our  principal  civil  chief,  said  he 
would  go,  as  soon  as  the  Foxes  came  down  from  the 
Mines.  They  came,  and  we  all  started  from  Rock 
river.  We  had  not  gone  far,  before  our  chief  was 
taken  sick.  We  stopped  with  him  at  the  village  on 
Henderson  river.  The  Foxes  went  on,  and  we  were 
to  follow  as  soon  as  our  chief  got  better ;  but  he  con- 
tinued to  get  worse,  and  died.  His  brother  now  be- 
came the  principal  chief.  He  refused  to  go  down — 
saying,  that  if  he  started,  he  would  be  taken  sick  and 


>ii 


^  I 


i.:!' 


*.) 


04 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK* 


die,  as  his  brother  had  done — which  was  reasonable  ! 
We  all  concluded,  that  none  of  us  would  ii;o  at  this 
time. 

The  Foxes  returned.  They  said  they  "  had  smoked 
the  pipe  of  peace  with  the  Americans,  and  expect- 
ed that  a  war  party  would  be  sent  against  us,  because 
we  did  not  go  down.  Tliis  I  did  not  believe  ;  as  the 
Americans  had  always  lost  by  their  war  parties  that 
came  against  us. 

La  Gutrie,  and  other  British  traders,  arrived  at  our 
village  on  Rock  river,  in  the  fall.  La  Gutrie  told  us, 
that  we  must  go  down  and  make  peace — that  it  was 
the  wish  of  our  English  father.  He  said  he  wished  us 
to  go  down  to  the  Two-River  country  to  winter — where 
game  was  plenty,  as  there  had  been  no  hunting  there 
for  several  years. 

Having  heard  that  a  principal  war  chief,  with  troops, 
had  come  up,  and  commenced  building  a  fort  near 
Rapids  des  Moines,  we  consented  to  go  down  with  the 
traders,  to  see  the  American  chief,  and  tell  him  the 
reason  why  we  had  not  been  down  sooner.  We  ar- 
rived at  the  head  of  the  rapids.  Here  the  traders  left 
their  goods  and  boats,  except  one,  in  which  they  ac- 
companied us  to  the  Americans.  We  visited  the  war 
chief,  (he  was  on  board  of  a  boat,)  and  told  him  what 
we  had  to  say — explaining  the  reason  we  had  not  been 
down  sooner.  He  appeared  angry,  and  talked  to  La 
Gutrie  for  some  time.  I  inquired  of  him,  what  the  war 
chief  said  ?     He  told  me  that  he  was  threatening  to 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


G5 


el 

r.is 


.u- 


hang  lilin  up  on  tlio  yard-arm  of  his  hoat.  "  But,"  said 
he,  "  I  am  not  afraid  of  what  he  says.  Ho  dare  not 
put  liis  threats  into  execution.  I  have  done  no  more 
than  1  had  a  right  to  do,  as  a  British  suhject." 

I  then  addressed  the  chief,  asking  permission  for  our- 
selves and  some  Menomonees,  to  go  down  to  the  Two- 
River  country  to  hunt.  He  said,  we  might  go  down, 
hut  must  return  hcfore  the  ice  made,  as  he  did  not  in- 
tend that  we  should  winter  helow  the  fort.  "  But,"  said 
he,  "  what  do  you  want  the  Menomonees  to  go  with 
you  for  ?"  I  did  not  know,  at  first,  wliat  reply  to  make 
— hut  told  him  that  they  had  a  great  many  pretty  squaws 
with  them,  and  we  wished  them  to  go  with  us  on  that 
account!  He  consented.  We  all  started  down  the 
river,  and  remained  all  winter,  as  we  had  no  intention 
of  returning  before  spring,  when  we  asked  leave  to  go. 
We  made  a  good  hunt.  Having  loaded  our  trade.rs' 
boats  with  furs  and  peltries,  they  started  to  Mackinac, 
and  we  returned  to  our  village. 

There  is  one  circumstance  which  I  omitted  *o  men- 
tion in  its  proper  place.  It  does  not  relate  to  myself 
or  people,  but  to  my  friend  Gomo,  the  Pottowatomie 
chief.  He  came  to  Rock  river  to  pay  me  a  visit.  Dur- 
ing his  stay,  be  related  to  me  the  following  story : 

"  The  war  chief  at  Peoria  is  a  very  good  man  ;  he 
always  speaks  the  truth,  and  treats  our  people  well. 
He  sent  for  me  one  day,  and  told  me  that  he  was  near- 
ly out  of  provision,  and  wished  me  to  send  my  young 
men  out  to  hunt,  to  supply  his  fort.  I  promised  to  do 
6* 


H' 


Ml 


!  ■    I 


;." 


f 


'     ,1 


i 


, ., 


i^  •!  \\ 


66 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAV/K* 


vt 


% 


so ;  and  immediately  returned  to  my  camp,  and  told 
my  young  men  the  wishes  and  wants  of  the  war  chief* 
They  readily  agreed  to  go  and  hunt  for  our  friend ; 
and  soon  returned  wit^^  i^cut  twenty  deer.  They  car- 
ried them  to  the  fort,  laid  them  down  at  the  gate,  and 
returned  to  our  camp.  A  few  days  afterwards,  I  went 
again  to  the  fort  to  see  if  they  wanted  more  meat. 
The  chief  gave  me  some  powder  and  lead,  and  said  he 
wished  me  to  send  my  hunters  out  again.  When  I 
returned  to  my  camp,  and  told  my  young  men  that  the 
chief  wanted  more  meat,  Ma-ta-tah,  one  of  my  princi- 
pal braves,  said  he  would  take  a  party  and  go  across 
the  Illinois,  about  one  day's  travel,  where  game  was 
plenty,  and  make  a  good  hunt  for  our  friend,  the  war 
chief.  He  took  eight  hunters  with  him  ;  his  wife  and 
several  other  squaws  accompanied  them.  They  had 
ti'avelled  about  half  the  day  in  the  prairie,  when  they 
discovered  a  party  of  white  men  coming  towards  them 
with  a  drove  of  cattle.  Our  hunters  apprehended  no 
danger,  or  they  would  have  kept  out  of  the  way  of  the 
whites,  (who  had  not  yet  perceived  them.)  Ma-ta-tah 
changed  his  course,  as  he  wished  to  meet  and  speak  to 
the  whites.  As  soon  as  the  whites  saw  our  party,  some 
of  them  put  off  at  full  speed,  and  came  up  to  our  hunt- 
ers, Ma-ta-tah  gave  up  his  gun  to  them,  and  endeav- 
ored to  explain  to  them  that  he  was  friendly,  and  was 
hunting  tor  the  war  chief  They  were  not  satisfied 
with  this,  but  fired  at  and  wounded  him.  He  got  into 
the  branch  of  a  tree  that  had  been  blown  down,  to 


I 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


67 


keep  the  horses  from  running  over  him.  He  was  again 
fired  on  by  several  guns  and  badly  wounded.  He  found 
that  he  would  be  murdered,  (if  not  mortally  wounded 
already,)  and  sprung  at  the  nearest  man  to  him,  seized 
his  gun,  and  shot  him  from  his  horse.  He  then  fell, 
covered  with  blood  from  his  wounds,  and  almost  in- 
stantly expired ! 

"  The  other  hunters,  being  in  the  rear  of  Ma-ta-tah, 
seeing  that  the  whites  had  killed  him,  endeavored  to 
make  their  escape.  They  were  pursued,  and  nearly 
all  the  party  murdered!  My  youngest  brother  brought 
me  the  news  in  the  night,  he  having  been  with  the 
hunters,  and  got  but  slightly  wounded.  He  said  the 
whites  had  abandoned  their  cattle,  and  gone  back  to- 
wards the  settlement.  The  remainder  of  the  night 
was  spent  in  lamenting  for  the  death  of  our  friends.  At 
day-liglit,  I  blacked  my  face,  and  started  to  the  fort  to 
see  the  war  chief  I  met  him  at  the  gate,  and  told 
him  what  had  happened.  His  countenance  changed ; 
I  could  see  sorrow  depicted  in  it  for  the  death  of  my 
people.  He  tried  to  persuade  me  that  I  was  mistaken, 
as  he  '  could  not  believe  that  the  whites  would  act  so 
cruelly.'  But  when  I  convinced  him,  he  told  me  that 
those  '  cowards  who  had  murdered  my  people  should 
be  punished.'  I  told  him  that  ny  people  would  have 
revenge — that  they  would  not  trouble  any  of  his  people 
of  the  fort,  as  we  did  not  blame  him  or  any  of  his  sol- 
diers— but  that  a  party  of  my  braves  would  go  towards 
the  Wabash  to  avenge  &e  death  of  their  friends  and 


■  h 

I        i 


in 


'i ' 


ii 


i  i 


il  iM 


68 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


m 


m-.i 


%      i 


relations.  The  next  day  I  took  a  party  of  hunters  and 
killed  several  deer,  and  left  them  at  the  fort  gate  as  I 
passed." 

Here  Gomo  ended  his  story.  I  could  relate  many 
similar  ones  that  have  come  within  my  own  knowledge 
and  observation ;  but  I  dislike  to  look  back  and  bring 
on  sorrow  afresh.     I  will  resume  my  narrative. 

The  great  chief  at  St.  Louis  having  sent  word  for  us 
to  go  down  and  confirm  the  treaty  of  peace,  we  did 
not  hesitate,  but  started  immediately,  that  we  might 
smoke  the  peace-pipe  with  him.  On  our  arrival,  we 
met  the  great  chiefs  in  council.  They  explained  to 
us  the  words  of  our  Great  Father  at  Washington,  ac- 
cusing us  of  heinous  crimes  and  divers  misdemeanors, 
particularly  in  not  coming  down  when  first  invited. 
We  knew  very  well  that  our  Great  Father  had  deceived 
us,  and  thereby  ybrce(/  us  to  join  the  British,  and  could 
not  believe  that  he  had  put  this  speech  into  the  mouths 
of  these  chiefs  to  deliver  to  us.  I  was  not  a  civil  chief, 
and  consequently  made  no  reply  :  but  our  chiefs  told 
the  commissioners  diat  '*  wh?t  they  had  said  was  a  lie ! 
—that  our  Great  Father  had  sent  no  such  speech,  he 
knowing  the  situation  in  which  we  had  been  placed 
had  been  caused  hy  him!'^  The  white  chiefs  appeared 
very  angry  at  this  reply,  and  said  they  ''  would  break 
off  the  treaty  with  us,  and  go  to  war,  as  they  would 
not  be  insulted." 

Our  chiefs  had  no  intention  of  insulting  them,  and 
told   them  so — '^that  lliey  merely  wished  to  explain 


Th 
are 
wit 
our 
hav 
non 
thai 
givj 
ourl 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


69 


ii^ 


''  *'■ 


to  them  that  they  had  told  a  lie,  without  making 
lliem  angiy ;  in  the  same  manner  that  the  whites  do, 
when  they  do  not  beheve  what  is  told  them !"  The 
council  then  proceeded,  and  the  pipe  of  peace  was 
smoked. 

Here,  for  the  first  time,  I  touched  the  goose  quill  to 
the  treaty — not  knowing,  however,  that,  by  that  act,  1 
consented  to  give  away  my  village.  Had  that  been 
explair'^d  to  me,  I  should  have  opposed  it,  and  never 
would  have  signed  their  treaty,  as  my  recent  conduct 
will  clearly  prove. 

What  do  we  know  of  the  manner  of  the  laws  and 
customs  of  the  white  people?  They  might  buy  our 
bodies  for  dissection,  and  we  would  touch  the  goose 
quill  to  confirm  it,  without  knowing  what  we  are  doing. 
This  was  the  case  with  myself  and  people  in  touching 
the  goose  quill  the  first  time. 

We  can  only  judge  of  what  is  proper  and  right  by 
our  standard  of  right  and  wrong,  which  differs  widely 
from  the  whites,  if  I  have  been  correctly  informed. 
The  whites  may  do  had  all  their  Uves,and  tlien,  if  they 
are  sorry  for  it  when  about  to  die,  all  is  well!  But 
with  us  it  is  different :  we  must  continue  throughout 
our  lives  to  do  what  we  conceive  to  be  good.  If  we 
have  corn  and  meat,  and  kpow  of  a  family  that  have  ' 
none,  we  divide  with  them.  If  we  have  more  blankets 
than  sufficient,  and  others  have  not  enough,  we  must 
give  to  them  that  want.  But  I  will  presently  explain 
our  customs  and  the  manner  we  live. 


i' '  < 


■  .1 


Ml 


t.  V 

1 


■    '    I 


;  < 


T/' 


70 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


We  were  friendly  treated  by  the  white  chiefs,  and 
started  back  to  our  village  on  Rock  river.  Here  we 
found  that  troops  had  arrived  to  build  a  fort  at  Rock 
Island.  This,  in  our  opinion,  was  a  contradiction  to 
what  we  had  done — *'  to  prepare  for  war  in  time  of 
peace."  We  did  not,  however,  object  to  their  building 
the  fort  on  the  island,  but  we  were  very  sorry,  as  this 
was  the  best  island  on  the  Mississippi,  and  had  long 
been  the  resort  of  our  young  people  during  the  sum- 
mer. It  was  our  garden  (like  the  white  people  have 
near  to  their  big  villages)  which 'supplied  us  with 
strawberries,  blackberries,  gooseberries,  plums,  apples, 
and  nuts  of  different  kinds ;  and  its  waters  supplied  us 
with  fine  fish,  being  situated  in  the  rapids  of  the  river. 
In  my  early  hfe,  I  spent  many  happy  days  on  this 
island.  A  good  spirit  had  care  of  it,  who  lived  in  a 
cave  in  the  rocks  immediately  under  the  place  where 
the  fort  now  stands,  and  has  often  been  seen  by  our 
people.  He  was  white,  with  large  wings  like  a  swanks, 
but  ten  times  larger.  We  were  particular  not  to  make 
much  noise  in  that  part  of  the  island  which  he  inhabited, 
for  fear  of  disturbing  him.  But  the  noise  of  the  fort 
has  since  driven  him  away,  and  no  doubt  a  had  spirit 
has  taken  his  place ! 

Our  village  was  situate  on  the  north  side  of  Rock 
river,  at  the  foot  of  its  rapids,  and  on  the  point  of  land 
between  Rock  river  and  the  Mississippi.  In  its  front, 
a  prairie  extended  to  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi ;  and 
in  our  rear,  a  continued  bluflf,  gently  ascending  from 


adi 
we 
to 
sim 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


71 


the  prairie.     On  the  side  of  tliis  blufT  we  had  our  corn- 
fields, extending  about  two  miles  up,  running  parallel 
with  the  Mississippi ;  where  we  joined  those  of  the 
Foxes,  whose  village  was  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi, 
opposite  the  lower  end  of  Rock  island,  and  three  miles 
distant  from  ours.     We  had  about  eight  hundred  acres 
in  cultivation,  including  what  we  had  on  the  islands  of 
Rock  river.    The  land  around  our  village,  uncultivated, 
was  covered  with   blue-grass,  which  made  excellent 
pasture  for  our  horses.     Several  fine  springs  broke  out 
of  the  bluff,  near  by,  from  which  we  were  supplied  with 
good  water.     The  rapids  of  Rock  river  furnished  us 
with  an  abundance  of  excellent  fish,  and   the   land, 
being  good,  never  failed  to  produce  good  crops  of  corn, 
beans,  pumpkins,  and  squashes.    We  always  had  plen- 
ty—our children  never  cried  with  hunger,  nor  our  peo- 
ple were  never  in  want.     Here  our  village  had  stood 
for  more  than  a  hundred  years,  during  all  which  time 
we  were  the  undisputed  possessors  of  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  from  the   Ouisconsin   to  the   Portage  des 
Sioux,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  being  about 
seven  hundred  miles  in  length. 

At  this  time  we  had  very  iitde  intercourse  with  the 
whites,  except  our  traders.  Our  village  was  healthy, 
and  there  was  no  place  in  the  country  possessing  such 
advantages,  nor  no  hunting  grounds  better  than  those 
we  had  in  possession.  If  another  prophet  had  come 
to  our  village  in  those  days,  and  told  us  wdiat  has 
since  taken  place,   none  of  our  people  would  have 


I  ,| 


•V,  ii 

I' 


ip  li 


m 


72 


LIFE    OP    BLACK    HAWK. 


I 


n 


believed  him  !  What !  to  be  driven  from  our  village 
and  hunting  grounds,  and  not  even  permitted  to  visit 
the  graves  of  our  forefadiers,  our  relations  and  friends  ? 

This  hardship  is  not  known  to  the  whites.  With 
us  it  is  a  custom  to  visit  the  graves  of  our  friends, 
and  keep  them  in  repair  for  many  years.  The  mother 
will  go  alone  to  weep  over  the  grave  of  her  child  ! 
The  brave,  with  pleasure,  visits  the  grave  of  his  father, 
after  he  has  been  successful  in  war,  and  re-paints  the 
post  that  shows  where  he  lies  !  There  is  no  place 
like  that  where  the  bones  of  our  forefathers  lie,  to  go 
to  when  in  grief.  Here  the  Great  Spirit  will  take 
pity  on  us  ! 

But,  how  different  is  our  situation  now,  from 
what  it  was  in  those  days !  Then  we  were  as 
happy  as  the  buffalo  on  the  plains — but  now,  we 
are  as  miserable  as  the  hungry,  howling  wolf  in  the 
prairie  !  But  I  am  digressing  from  my  story.  Bit- 
ter reflection  crowds  upon  my  mind,  and  must  find 
utterance. 

When  we  returned  to  our  village  in  the  spring, 
from  our  wintering  grounds,  we  would  finish  trading 
with  our  traders,  who  always  followed  us  to  our 
village.  We  purposely  kept  some  of  our  fine  furs 
for  this  trade;  and,  as  there  was  great  opposition 
among  them,  who  should  get  these  skins,  we  al- 
ways got  our  goods  cheap.  After  this  trade  was 
over,  the  traders  would  give  us  a  few  kegs  of  rum, 
which  was    generally   promised   in    the  fall,    to    en- 


ai 
hi 


LIFE    OF   BLACK   HAWK. 


73 


a 


courage  us  to  make  a  good  hunt,  and  not  go  to  war. 
They  would  then  start  with  their  furs  and  peltries 
for  their  homes.  Our  old  men  would  take  a  frolic, 
(at  this  time  our  young  men  never  drank.)  When 
this  was  ended,  t^  e  next  thing  to  be  done  was  to 
bury  our  dead,  (such  as  had  died  during  the  year.) 
This  is  a  great  medicine  feast.  The  relations  of 
those  who  have  died,  give  all  the  goods  they  have 
purchased,  as  presents  to  their  friends — thereby  re- 
ducing themselves  to  poverty,  to  show  the  Great 
Spirit  that  they  are  humble,  so  that  he  will  take 
pity  on  them.  We  would  next  open  the  cashes, 
and  take  out  corn  and  other  provisions,  which  had 
been  put  up  in  the  fall, — and  then  commence  re- 
pairing our  lodges.  As  soon  as  this  is  accomplish- 
ed, we  repair  the  fences  around  our  fields,  and  clean 
them  off,  ready  for  planting  corn.  This  work  is 
done  by  our  women.  The  men,  during  this  time, 
are  feasting  on  dried  venison,  bear's  meat,  wild 
fowl,  and  corn,  prepared  in  different  ways ;  and 
recounting  to  each  other  what  took  place  during  the 
winter. 

Our  women  plant  the  com,  and  as  soon  as  they 
get  done,  we  make  a  feast,  and  dance  the  crane 
dance,  in  which  they  join  us,  dressed  in  their  best, 
and  decorated  with  feathers.  At  this  feast  our 
young  braves  select  the  young  woman  they  wish  to 
have  for  a  wife.  He  then  informs  his  mother,  who 
calls  on  the  mother  of  the  girl,  when  the  arrangement 
7 


k.' 


I- 


,1 


ti 


M 


4  i\ 


I 

! 


M 


74 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


1^ 


is  made,  and  the  time  appointed  for  him  to  come. 
He  goes,  to  the  lodge  when  all  are  asleep,  (or  pre- 
tend to  be,)  lights  his  matches,  which  have  been  pro- 
vided for  the  purpose,  and  soon  finds  where  his  in- 
tended sleeps.  He  then  awakens  her,  and  holds  the 
light  to  his  face  that  she  may  know  him — after  which 
he  places  the  light  close  to  her.  If  she  blows  it  out, 
the  ceremony  is  ended,  and  he  appears  in  the  lodge 
next  moraing,  as  one  of  the  family.  If  she  does  not 
blow  out  the  light,  but  leaves  it  to  burn  out,  he  retires 
from  the  lodge.  The  next  day  he  places  himself  in 
full  view  of  it,  and  plays  his  flute.  The  young 
women  go  out,  one  by  one,  to  see  who  he  is  playing 
for.  Tile  tune  changes,  to  let  them  know  that  he 
is  not  playing  for  them.  When  his  intended  makes 
her  appearance  at  the  door,  he  continues  his  court- 
ing tune,  until  she  returns  to  the  lodge.  He  then 
gives  over  playing,  and  makes  another  trial  at  night, 
which  generally  turns  out  favorable.  During  the 
first  year  they  ascertain  whether  they  can  agree 
with  each  other,  and  can  be  happy — if  not,  they 
part,  and  each  looks  out  again.  If  we  were  to  live 
together  and  disagree,  we  should  be  as  foolish  as  the 
whites  1  No  indiscretion  can  banish  a  woman  from 
her  parental  lodge — no  difference  how  many  chil- 
dren she  may  bring  home,  she  is  always  welcome 
— the  kettle  is  over  the  fire  to  feed  them. 

The  crane  dance  often  lasts  two   or  three   days. 
When  this   is  over,   we  feast   again,  and  have  our 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


75 


H' 


national  dance.  The  large  square  in  the  village  is 
swept  and  prepared  for  the  purpose.  The  chiefs  and 
old  warriors,  take  seats  on  mats  which  have  been 
spread  at  the  upper  end  of  the  square — the  drum- 
mers and  singers  come  next,  and  the  braves  and 
women  form  the  sides,  leaving  a  large  space  in 
the  middle.  The  drums  beat,  and  the  singers  com- 
mence. A  warrior  enters  the  square,  keeping  time 
with  the  music.  He  shows  the  manner  he  started 
on  a  war  party — how  he  approached  the  enemy — 
he  strikes,  and  describes  the  way  he  killed  him. 
All  join  in  applause.  He  then  leaves  the  square, 
and  another  enters  and  takes  his  place.  Such  of  our 
young  men  as  have  not  been  out  in  war  parties, 
and  killed  an  enemy,  stand  back  ashamed — ^not  being 
able  to  enter  the  square.  I  remember  that  I  was 
ashamed  to  look  where  our  young  women  stood, 
before  I  could  take  my  stand  in  the  square  as  a 
warrior. 

What  pleasure  it  is  to  an  old  warrior,  to  see  his 
son  come  forward  and  relate  his  exploits — it  makes 
him  feel  young,  and  induces  him  to  enter  the  square, 
and  "  fight  his  battles  o'er  again." 

This  national  dance  makes  our  warriors.  When 
I  was  travelling  last  summer,  on  a  steam-boat,  on  a 
large  river,  going  from  New  York  to  Albany,  I  was 
shown  the  place  where  the  Americans  dance  their 
national  dance  [West  Point] ;  where  the  old  warriors 
recount  to  their  young  men,  what  they  have  done,  to 


^1 


1 1 1' 


.  I 


f  \\ 

1  n 


;i^ 


m 


\ 


76 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


i-'1 


^   "' 


Stimulate  them  to  ^o  and  do  likewise.  This  surprised 
me,  as  T  did  not  think  the  whites  understood  our  way 
of  making  braves. 

When  our  national  dance  is  over — our  corn-fields 
hoed,  and  every  weed  dug  up,  and  our  corn  about 
knee-high,  all  our  young  men  would  start  in  a  direc- 
tion towards  sun-down,  to  hunt  deer  and  buffalo — be- 
ing prepared,  also,  to  kill  Sioux,  if  any  are  found  on 
our  hunting  grounds — a  part  of  our  old  men  and 
women  to  the  lead  mines  to  make  lead — and  the  re- 
mainder of  our  people  start  to  fish,  and  get  mat  stuff. 
Every  one  leaves  the  village,  and  remains  about  forty 
days.  They  then  return  :  the  hunting  party  bringing 
in  dried  buffalo  and  deer  meat,  and  sometimes  Sioux 
scalpsj  when  they  are  found  trespassing  on  our  hunt- 
ing grounds.  At  other  times  they  are  met  by  a  party 
of  Sioux  too  strong  for  diem,  and  are  driven  in.  If 
the  Sioux  have  killed  the  Sacs  last,  they  expect  to  be 
retaliated  upon,  and  will  fly  before  them,  and  vice 
versa.  Each  party  knows  that  the  other  has  a  right 
to  retaliate,  which  induces  those  who  have  killed  last, 
to  give  way  before  their  enemy — as  neidier  wish  to 
strike,  except  to  avenge  the  death  of  their  relatives. 
All  our  wars  are  predicated  by  the  relatives  of  those 
killed  ;  or  by  aggressions  upon  our  hiwiting  grounds. 

The  party  from  the  lead  mines  bring  lead,  and  the 
others  dried  fish,  and  mats  for  our  winter  lodges. 
Presents  are  now  made  by  each  party  ;  the  first,  giv- 
ing to  the  others  dried  buffalo  and  deer,  and  they,  in 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


77 


exchange,  presenting  them  with  lend,  dried  fish  and 

mats.     Tliis  is  a  happy  season  of  the  year — having 

plenty  of  provisions,  such  as  beans,  squashes,  and  other 

produce,  with  our  dried  meat  and  fish,  we  continue  to 

make  feasts  and  visit  each  other,  until  our  corn  is  ripe. 

Some  lodge  in  the  village  makes  a  feast  daily,  to  the 

Great  Spirit.     I  cannot  explain  this  so  that  the  white 

people  would  comprehend  me,  as  we  have  no  regular 

standard  among  us.     Every  one  makes  his  feast  as  he 

thinks  best,  to  please  the  Great  Spirit,  wlx)  has  the 

care  of  all  beings   created.     Others   believe   in  two 

Spirits :  one  good  and  one  bad,  and  make  feasts  for 

die  Bad  Spirit,  to  keep  him  quiet !     If  they  can  make 

peace  with  him,  the  Good  Spirit  will  not  hurt  them ! 

For  my  part,  I  am  of  opinion,  that  so  far  as  we  have 

reasorij  we  have  a  right  to  use  it,  in  determining  what 

is  right  or  wrong ;  and  should  pursue  diat  path  which 

we  believe  to  be   right — believing  that,  "  whatever  is, 

is  right."     If  the  Great  and  Good  Spirit  wished  us  to 

believe  and  do  as  the  whites,  he  could  easily  change 

our  opinions,  so  that  we  would  see,  and  think,  and  act 

as  they  do.     We  are  nothing  compared  to  His  power, 

and  we  feel  and  know  it.     We  have  men  among  us, 

like  the  whites,  who  pretend  to  know  the  right  path, 

but  will  not  consent  to  show  it  without  pay  !     I  have 

no  faith  in  their  paths — but  believe  that  every  man 

must  make  his  own  path  ! 

When  our  corn  is  getting  ripe,  our  young  people 

watch  with  anxiety  for  the  signal  to  pull  roasting  ears 
7# 


i 


* 


I 


I  »i 


H 


is 


78 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


— as  none  dare  touch  ilieni  until  the  proper  tlme# 
When  llie  corn  is  fit  to  use,  another  great  ceremony 
takos  place,  with  feasting,  and  returning  thanks  to  the 
Great  Spirit  for  giving  us  corn. 

I  will  here  relate  the  manner  in  which  corn  first 
came.  According  to  tradition,  handed  down  to  our 
people,  a  heautil'ul  woman  was  seen  to  descend  from 
the  clouds,  and  alight  upon  the  earth,  by  two  of  our 
ancestors,  who  had  killed  a  deer,  and  were  sitting  by 
a  fire,  roasting  a  part  of  it  to  eat.  They  were  aston- 
ished at  seeing  her,  and  concluded  that  she  must  be 
hungry,  and  had  smelt  the  meat — and  immediately 
went  to  her,  taking  with  them  a  piece  of  the  roasted 
Tcnison.  They  j)resented  it  to  her,  and  she  eat — 
and  told  them  to  return  to  the  spot  where  she  was 
sitting,  at  the  end  of  one  year,  and  they  would  find  a 
reward  for  their  kindness  and  generosity.  She  then 
ascended  to  the  clouds,  and  disappeared.  The  two 
men  returned  to  their  village,  and  explained  to  the 
nation  what  they  had  seen,  done,  and  heard — but  were 
laughed  at  by  their  people.  When  the  period  ar- 
rived, for  them  to  visit  this  consecrated  ground,  where 
they  were  to  find  a  reward  for  their  attention  to  the 
beautiful  woman  of  the  clouds,  they  went  with  a  large 
party,  and  found,  where  her  right  hand  had  rested  on 
the  ground,  corn  growing — and  where  the  left  hand  had 
rested,  beans — and  immediately  where  she  had  been 
seated,  tobacco. 

The  two  first  have,  ever  since,  been  cultivated  by 


i 


LIFE    or    BLACK    HAWK. 


70 


our  people,  as  oinr  principal  provisions — and  the  last 
used  for  smoking.  The  white  people  have  since  found 
out  die  latter,  and  seem  to  relish  it  as  much  as  we  do 
— as  they  use  it  in  different  wajs,  viz.  smoking,  snuff- 
ing and  eating  ! 

We  thank  die  Great  Spirit  for  all  die  benefits  he 
has  conferred  upon  us.  For  myself,  I  never  take  a 
drink  of  water  from  a  spring,  without  being  mindful 
of  his  goodness. 

We  next  have  our  great  ball  play — from  diree  to 
five  hundred  on  a  side,  play  this  game.  We  play  for 
horses,  guns,  blankets,  or  any  other  kind  of  property 
we  have.  The  successful  party  take  the  stakes,  and 
all  retire  to  our  lodges  in  peace  and  friendship. 

We  next  commence  horse-racing,  and  continue  our 
sport  and  feasting,  until  the  corn  is  all  secured.  We 
then  prepare  to  leave  our  village  for  our  hunting 
grounds.  The  traders  arrive,  and  give  us  credit  for 
such  articles  as  we  want  to  clothe  our  families,  and 
enable  us  to  hunt.  We  first,  however,  hold  a  coun- 
cil with  them,  to  ascertain  the  price  they  will  give  us 
for  our  skins,  and  what  they  will  charge  us  for  goods. 
We  inform  them  where  we  intend  hunUng — and  tell 
them  where  to  build  their  houses.  At  this  place,  we 
deposit  part  of  our  corn,  and  leave  our  old  people. 
The  traders  have  always  been  kind  to  them,  and  re- 
lieved them  when  in  want.  They  were  always  much 
respected  by  our  people — and  never  since  we  have 
been  a  nation,  has  one  of  them  been  killed  by  any  of 
our  people. 


<> 


i\ 


.  I 


:    ) 


n 


|: 


80 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


■fil 


li 


i 


f 


I)  ,J. 


Li  I' 


We  disperse,  in  small  parties,  to  make  our  hunt,  and 
as  soon  as  it  is  over,  we  return  to  our  traders'  establish- 
ment, with  our  skins,  and  remain  feasting,  playing 
cards  and  other  pastimes,  until  near  the  close  of  the 
winter.  Our  young  men  then  start  on  the  beaver 
hunt ;  otliers  to  hunt  raccoons  and  muskrats — and  the 
remainder  of  our  people  go  to  the  sugar  camps  to 
make  sugar.  Ail  leave  our  encampment,  and  appoint 
a  place  to  meet  on  the  Mississippi,  so  that  we  may  re- 
turn to  our  village  together,  in  the  spring.  We  always 
spent  our  time  pleasantly  at  the  sugar  camp.  It  be- 
ing the  season  for  wild  fowl,  we  lived  well,  and  al- 
ways had  plenty,  when  the  hunters  came  in,  that  we 
might  make  a  feast  for  them.  After  this  is  over,  we 
return  to  our  village,  accompanied,  sometimes,  by  our 
traders.  In  this  way,  the  year  rolled  round  happily. 
But  these  are  times  that  were  ! 

On  returning,  in  the  spring,  from  our  hunting 
ground,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  our  old  friend, 
the  trader  of  Peoria,  at  Rock  Island.  He  came  up 
in  a  boat  from  St.  Louis,  not  as  a  trader,  as  in  times 
past,  but  as  our  agent,.  We  were  all  pleased  to  see 
him.  He  told  us,  that  he  narrowly  escaped  falling 
into  the  hands  of  Dixon.  He  remained  with  us  a 
short  time,  gave  us  good  advice,  and  then  returned  to 
St.  Louis. 

1'he  Sioux  having  committed  depredations  on  our 
people,  we  sent  out  war  parties  that  summer,  who 
succeeded  in  kWYnv^  fourteen.  I  paid  several  visits  to 
fort  Armstrong  during  the  summer,  and  was  always 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


81 


^ 


well  treated.  We  were  not  as  happy  then  in  our  vil- 
lage as  formerly.  Our  people  got  more  liquor  than 
customary.  I  used  all  my  influence  to  prevent  drunk- 
enness, but  without  efFecc.  As  the  settlements  pro- 
gressed towards  us,  we  became  worse  off,  and  more 
unhappy.  Many  of  our  people,  instead  of  going  to 
their  old  hunting  grounds,  where  game  was  plenty, 
would  go  near  to  the  settlements  to  hunt — and,  in- 
stead of  saving  their  skins  to  pay  the  trader  for  goods 
furnished  them  in  the  fall,  would  sell  them  to  the  set- 
tlers for  whiskey  !  and  return  in  the  spring  with  their 
families,  almost  naked,  and  without  the  means  of  get- 
ting any  thing  for  them. 

About  this  time  my  eldest  son  was  taken  sick  and 
died.  He  had  always  been  a  dutiful  child,  and  had 
just  grown  to  manhood.  Soon  after,  my  youngest 
daughter,  an  interesting  and  affectionate  child,  died 
also.  This  was  a  hard  stroke,  because  I  loved  my 
children.  In  my  distress,  I  left  the  noise  of  the  vil- 
lage, and  built  my  lodge  on  a  mound  in  my  corn-field, 
and  enclosed  it  with  a  fence,  around  which  I  planted 
corn  and  beans.  Here  I  was  with  my  family  alone. 
I  gave  every  thing  I  had  away,  and  reduced  myself  to 
poverty.  The  only  covering  I  retained,  was  a  piece 
of  buffalo  robe.  I  resolved  on  blacking  my  face  and 
fasting,  for  two  years,  for  the  loss  of  my  two  children 
— drinking  only  of  water  in  the  middle  of  the  day, 
and  eaiing  sparingly  of  boiled  corn  at  sunset.  I  ful- 
filled my  promise,  hoping  that  the  Great  Spirit  would 
take  pity  on  me. 


!-   ( 


I    i 


m 


82 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


Ik 


My  nation  had  now  some  difficulty  with  the  loways, 
with  whom  we  wished  to  be  at  peace.  Our  young 
men  had  repeatedly  killed  some  of  the  loways ;  and 
these  breaches  had  always  been  made  up  by  giving 
presents  to  the  relations  of  those  killed.  But  the  last 
council  we  had  with  them,  we  promised  that,  in  case 
any  more  of  their  people  were  killed  by  ours,  instead 
of  presents,  we  would  give  up  the  person,  or  persons, 
that  had  done  the  injury.  We  made  this  determina- 
tion known  to  our  people  ;  but,  notwithstanding, 
one  of  our  young  men  killed  an  loway  the  following 
winter. 

A  party  of  our  people  were  about  starting  for  the 
loway  village  to  give  the  young  man  up.  I  agreed  to 
accompany  them.  When  we  were  ready  to  start,  I 
called  at  the  lodge  for  the  young  man  to  go  with  us. 
Ke  was  sick,  but  willing  to  go.  His  brother,  howev- 
er, prevented  him,  and  insisted  on  going  to  die  in  liis 
place,  as  he  was  unable  to  travel.  We  started,  and 
on  the  seventh  day  arrived  in  sight  of  the  loway  vil- 
lage, and  when  within  a  short  distance  of  it,  halted 
and  dismounted.  We  all  bid  farewell  to  our  young 
brave,  who  entered  the  village  alone,  singing  his  deai/i- 
song,  and  sat  down  in  the  square  in  the  middle  of  the 
village.  One  of  the  loway  chiefs  rame  out  to  us. 
We  told  him  that  we  had  fulfilled  our  promise — that 
we  had  brought  the  brother  of  the  young  man  who 
had  killed  one  of  their  people — that  he  had  volunteer- 
ed to  come  in  his  place,  in  consequence  of  his  brother 
being  unable   to  travel  from  sickness.     We  had  no 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


83 


further  conversation,  but  mounted  our  horses  and  rode 
off.  As  we  started,  I  cast  my  eye  towards  the  village, 
and  observed  the  loways  coming  out  of  their  lodges 
with  spears  and  war  clubs.  We  took  our  trail  back, 
and  travelled  until  dark — -then  encamped  and  made  a 
fire.  We  had  not  been  here  long,  before  we  heard 
the  sound  of  horses  coming  towards  us.  We  seized 
our  arms  ;  but  instead  of  an  enemy,  it  was  our  young 
brave  with  two  horses.  He  told  me  that  after  we  had 
left  him,  they  menaced  him  with  death  for  some  time 
— then  gave  him.  something  to  eat — smoked  the  pipe 
vvidi  him — and  made  him  a  present  of  the  two  horses 
and  some  goods,  and  started  him  after  us.  When  we 
arrived  at  our  village,  our  people  were  much  pleased  ; 
and  for  the  noblo  and  generous  conduct  of  the  loways, 
oPi  this  occasion,  not  one  of  their  people  has  been 
killed  since  by  any  of  our  nation. 

That  fail  I  visited  Maiden  with  several  of  my  band,  and 
were  well  treated  by  the  agent  of  our  British  father,  who 
giive  us  a  variety  of  presents.  He  also  gave  me  a 
medal,  and  told  me  there  never  would  be  war  between 
England  and  America  again  ;  but,  for  my  fidelity  to 
die  British  during  the  war  that  had  terminated  some- 
trme  before,  requested  me  to  come  with  my  band  eve- 
ry year  and  get  presents,  as  Col.  Dixon  had  prom- 
ised me. 

I  returned,  and  hunted  that  winter  on  the  Two- 
Rivers.  The  whites  were  now  settling  the  country 
fast.     I  was  out  one  day  hunting  in  a  bottom,  and  met 


i^i 


ill 


:  i. 


1 1 

: 


|: 


1 


ilk 
M 

I; 
,1 


84 


LIFE   OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


three  white  men.  They  accused  nie  of  killing  their 
hogs ;  I  denied  it ;  but  they  would  not  listen  to  me. 
One  of  them  took  my  gun  out  of  my  hand  and  fired 
it  off — then  took  out  the  flint,  gave  back  my  gun,  and 
commenced  beating  me  with  sticks,  and  ordered  me 
off.  I  was  so  much  bruised  that  I  could  not  sleep  for 
several  niglits. 

Some  time  after  this  occurrence,  one  of  my  camp 
cut  a  bee-tree,  and  carried  the  honey  to  his  lodge. 
A  party  of  white  men  soon  followed,  and  told  him 
that  the  bee-tree  was  theirs,  and  that  he  had  no  right 
to  cut  it.  He  pointed  to  the  honey,  and  told  them  to 
take  it ;  they  were  not  satisfied  with  this,  but  took  all 
the  packs  of  skins  that  he  had  collected  during  die 
winter,  to  pay  his  trader  and  clothe  his  family  with  in 
the  spring,  and  carried  them  off ! 

How  could  we  like  such  people,  who  treated  us  so 
unjustly  ?  We  determined  to  break  up  our  camp,  for 
fear  that  they  would  do  worse — and  when  we  joined 
our  people  in  the  spring,  a  great  many  of  them  com- 
plained of  similar  treatment. 

This  summer  our  agent  came  to  live  at  Rock 
Island.  He  treated  us  well,  and  gave  us  good  advice. 
I  visited  him  and  the  trader  very  often  during  the 
summer,  and,  for  the  first  time,  heard  talk  of  our  hav- 
ing to  leave  my  village.  The  trader  explained  to  me 
the  terms  of  the  treaty  that  had  been  made,  and  said 
we  would  be  obliged  to  leave  the  Illinois  side  of  the 


M 


won 

ississi 


ppi,  and  advised  us  to  select  a  good  place  for 


;■! 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


85 


ige. 


our  village,  and  remove  to  it  in  the  spring.  He  point- 
ed out  the  difSculties  we  would  have  to  encounter,  if 
we  remained  at  our  village  on  Rock  river.  He  had 
great  influence  with  the  principal  Fox  chief,  (his 
adopted  brother,  and  persuaded  him  to  leave  his  vil- 
lage, and  go  to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  river, 
and  build  another — which  he  did  the  spring  following. 

Nothing  was  now  talked  of  but  leaving  our  village. 
Ke-o-kuck  had  been  persuaded  to  consent  to  go ;  and 
was  using  all  his  influence,  backed  by  the  war  chief  at 
fort  Armstrong,  and  our  agent  and  trader  at  Rock 
Island,  to  induce  others  to  go  with  him.  He  sent  the 
crier  through  the  village  to  inform  our  people  that  it 
was  the  wish  of  our  Great  Father  that  we  should  re- 
move to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi — and  recom- 
mended the  loway  river  as  a  good  place  for  the  new 
village — and  wished  his  party  to  make  such  arrange- 
ments, before  they  started  out  on  their  wmter's  hunt, 
as  to  preclude  the  necessity  of  their  returning  to  the 
village  in  the  spring. 

The  party  opposed  to  removing,  called  upon  me 
for  my  opinion.  I  gave  it  freely — and  after  question- 
ing Quash-qua-me  about  the  sale  of  lliu  lands,  he  as- 
sured me  that  he  "  never  had  consented  to  the  sale  of 
our  village,"  I  now  promised  this  party  to-  be  their 
leader,  and  raised  the  standard  of  opposition  to  Ke-o- 
kuck,  with  a  full  determination  not  to  leave  my  vil- 
lage. 1  had  an  interview  with  Ke-o-kuck,  to  see  if 
this  difficulty  could  not  be  settled  with  our  Great 
8 


^If 


r^  n 


I  {• 


1 

r 


^ 


86 


LIFE    or    BLACK    HAWK. 


Father — and  told  him  to  propose  to  give  other  land, 
(any  that  our  Great  Fntlier  might  choose,  even  our 
lead  mines,)  to  be  peaceably  permitted  to  keep  the 
small  point  of  land  on  which  our  village  and  fields 
were  situate.  I  was  of  opinion  that  the  white  peo- 
ple had  plenty  of  land,  and  would  never  take  our  vil- 
lage from  us.  Ke-o-kuck  promised  to  make  an  ex- 
change if  possible  ;  and  applied  to  our  agent,  and  the 
great  chief  at  St.  Louis,  (who  has  charge  of  all  the 
agents,)  for  permission  to  go  to  Washington  to  see  our 
Great  Father  for  that  purpose.  This  satisfied  us  for 
some  time.  We  started  to  our  hunting  grounds,  in 
good  hopes  that  something  would  be  done  for  us. 
During  the  winter,  I  received  information  that  three 
families  of  whites  had  arrived  at  our  village,  and  de- 
stroyed some  of  our  lodges,  and  were  making  fences 
and  dividing  our  corn-fields  for  their  own  use — and 
ivcre  quarreU'mg  among  themselves  about  their  lines, 
in  the  division  !  I  immediately  started  for  Rock  riv- 
er, a  distance  of  ten  days'  travel,  and  on  my  arrival, 
found  the  report  to  be  true.  I  went  to  my  lodge,  and 
saw  a  family  occupying  it.  I  wished  to  talk  with 
thoin,  but  they  could  not  understand  me.  I  then 
went  to  Rock  Island,  and  (the  agent  being  absent,) 
told  the  interpreter  what  I  wanted  to  say  to  those  peo- 
ple, viz :  *'  Not  to  settle  on  our  lands — nor  trouble 
our  lodges  or  fences — that  there  was  plenty  of  land  in 
the  country  for  them  to  settle  upon — and  they  must 
leave  our  village,  as  we  were  coming  back  to  it  in  the 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


87 


spring."  The  interpreter  wrote  me  a  paper,  and  I 
went  back  to  the  village,  and  showed  it  to  the  intru- 
ders, but  could  not  understand  their  reply.  1  expect- 
ed, however.^  that  they  would  remove,  as  I  requested 
them.  I  returned  to  Rock  Island,  passed  the  night 
there,  and  had  a  long  conversation  with  the  trader. 
He  again  advised  me  to  give  up,  and  make  my  village 
with  Ke-o-kuck,  on  the  loway  river.  I  told  him  that 
I  would  not.  The  next  morning  I  crossed  the  Missis- 
sippi, on  very  bad  ice — but  the  Great  Spirit  made  it 
strong,  that  I  might  pass  over  safe.  I  travelled  three 
days  farther  to  see  the  Winnebago  sub-agent,  and  con- 
verse with  him  on  the  subject  of  our  difficulties.  He 
gave  me  no  better  news  than  the  trader  had  done.  I 
started  then,  by  way  of  Rock  river,  to  see  the  proph- 
et, believing  that  he  was  a  man  of  great  knowledge. 
When  we  met,  I  explained  to  him  every  thing  as  it 
was.  He  at  once  agreed  that  I  was  right,  and  ad- 
vised me  never  to  give  up  our  village,  J  or  the  whites  to 
plough  up  the  bones  of  our  people.  He  said,  that  if 
we  remained  at  our  village,  the  whites  would  not  trou- 
ble us — and  advised  me  to  get  Ke-o-kuck,  and  the 
party  that  had  consented  to  go  with  him  to  the  loway 
in  the  spring,  to  return,  and  remain  at  our  village. 

I  returned  to  my  hunting  ground,  after  an  absence 
of  one  moon,  and  related  what  I  had  done.  In  a 
short  time  we  came  up  to  our  village,  and  found  that 
*be  whites  had  not  left  it — but  that  others  had  come, 
and  that  the  greater  part  of  our  corn-fields  had  been 


N*« 


H 


lU 


Ir 


88 


LIFE    OP    BLACK    HAWK. 


li-i  ,  I 


'i'l 


enclosed.  When  we  landed,  the  whites  appeared  dis- 
pleased because  we  liad  come  back.  We  repaired 
the  lodges  thai  had  been  left  standing,  and  built  others. 
Ke-o-kuck  came  to  the  village ;  but  his  object  was  to 
persuade  others  to  follow  him  to  the  loway.  He  had 
accomplished  nothing  towards  making  arrangements  for 
us  to  remain,  or  to  exchange  other  lands  for  our  village. 
There  was  no  more  friendship  existing  between  us.  I 
looked  upon  him  as  a  coward,  and  no  brave,  to  aban- 
don his  village  to  be  occupied  by  strangers.  What 
right  had  these  people  to  our  village,  and  our  fields, 
whicli  the  Great  Spirit  had  given  us  to  hve  upon  ? 

My  reason  teaches  me  that  land  cannot  be  sold. 
The  Great  Spirit  gave  it  to  his  children  to  live  upon, 
and  cultivate,  as  far  as  is  necessary  for  their  subsis- 
tence ;  and  so  long  as  they  occupy  and  cultivate  it, 
they  have  the  riglit  to  the  soil — but  if  they  voluntarily 
leave  it,  then  any  other  people  have  a  right  to  settle 
upon  it.  Nothing  can  be  sold,  but  such  diings  as  can 
be  carried  away. 

[n  consequence  of  the  improvements  of  the  intru- 
ders on  our  fields,  we  found  considerable  difHculty  to 
get  ground  to  plant  a  litde  corn.  Some  of  the  whites 
permitted  us  to  plant  small  patches  in  the  fields  they 
had  fenced,  keeping  all  the  best  ground  for  them- 
selves. Our  women  had  great  difficulty  in  climbing 
their  fences,  (being  unaccustomed  to  the  kind,)  and 
were  ill-treated  if  diey  left  a  rail  down. 

One  of  my  old  friends  thought  he  was  safe*     His 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


89 


J  . 


His 


corn-field  was  on  a  small  island  of  Rock  river.  He 
planted  his  corn  ;  it  caine  up  well — but  the  white  man 
saw  it ! — he  wanted  the  island,  and  took  his  team 
over,  ploughed  up  the  corn,  and  re-planted  it  for  him- 
self! The  old  man  shed  tears ;  not  for  himself,  but 
the  distress  his  family  would  be  in  if  they  raised  no 
corn. 

The  white  people  brought  whisky  into  our  village, 
made  our  people  drunk,  and  cheated  them  out  of  their 
horses,  guns,  and  traps  !  This  fraudulent  system  was 
carried  to  such  an  extent  that  I  apprehended  senous 
difficulties  might  take  place,  unless  a  stop  was  put  to 
it.  Consequendy,  I  visited  all  the  whites  and  begged 
them  not  to  sell  whisky  to  my  people.  One  of  them 
continued  the  practice  openly.  I  took  a  party  of  my 
young  men,  went  to  his  house,  and  took  out  his  barrel 
and  broke  in  the  head  and  turned  out  the  whisky.  I 
did  this  for  fear  some  of  the  whites  might  be  killed  by 
my  people  when  drunk. 

Our  people  were  treated  badly  by  the  whites  on 
many  occasions.  At  one  time,  a  white  man  beat  one 
of  our  women  cruelly,  for  puUing  a  few  suckers  of  corn 
out  of  his  field,  to  suck,  when  hungry !  At  another 
time,  one  of  our  young  men  was  beat  with  clubs  by 
two  white  men  for  opening  a  fence  which  crossed  our 
road,  to  take  his  horse  through.  His  shoulder  blade 
was  broken,  and  his  body  badly  bruised,  from  which 
he  soon  after  died  1 

Bad,  and  cruel,  as  our  people  were  treated  by  the 
8* 


fil^ 


!;  I 


h 


i 


t' 


1^'^ 


•  ! 

i 

'.''. 

t 

i       , 

'       I 

!  ' 

% 

'  ( 

f 

! 

1    :     :•    t. 

i  1 

r 


f 

!■ 


90 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


whites,  not  one  of  them  was  hurt  or  molested  by  any 
of  my  band.  I  hope  this  will  prove  that  we  are  a 
peaceable  pco[)le — having  permitted  ten  men  to  take 
possession  of  our  corn-fields  ;  prevent  us  from  planting 
corn ;  burn  and  destroy  our  lodges ;  ill-treat  our  wo- 
men ;  and  beat  to  death  our  men,  without  offering  re- 
sistance to  their  barbarous  cruelties.  This  is  a  lesson 
worthy  for  the  white  man  to  learn :  to  use  forbearance 
when  injured. 

We  acquainted  our  agent  daily  with  our  situation, 
and  dirough  him,  the  great  chief  at  St.  Louis — and 
hoped  that  something  would  be  done  for  us.  The 
whites  were  cornplaining  at  the  same  time  diat  wc 
were  intruding  upon  their  rights!  They  made 
themselves  out  the  injured  party,  and  we  the  intrvr- 
ders !  and  called  loudly  to  the  great  war  chief  to  pro- 
tect their  property ! 

How  smooth  must  be  the  language  of  the  whites, 
when  they  can  make  right  look  like  wrong,  and  wong 
like  right. 

During  this  summer,  I  happened  at  Rock  Island, 
when  a  great  chief  arrived,  (whom  I  had  known  as  the 
great  chief  of  Illinois,  [governor  Cole,]  in  company 
with  another  chief,  who,  I  have  been  told,  is  a  great 
writer,  [judge  J  as.  Hall.]  I  called  upon  them  and 
begged  to  explain  to  them  the  grievances  under  which 
me  and  my  people  were  laboring,  hoping  that  they 
could  do  something  for  us.  The  great  chief,  however, 
did  not  seem  disposed  to  counsel  with  me.     He  said 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


91 


he  was  no  longer  the  great  chief  of  Illinois — that  his 
children  had  selected  another  father  in  his  stead,  and 
tliat  he  now  only  ranked  as  they  did.  1  was  surprised 
at  this  talk,  as  I  had  always  heard  that  he  was  a  good, 
brave,  and  great  chief.  But  the  white  people  never 
appear  to  be  satisfied.  When  they  get  a  good  father, 
they  hold  councils,  (at  the  suggestion  of  some  bad, 
ambitious  man,  who  wants  the  place  himself.)  and 
conclude,  among  themselves,  that  this  man,  or  some 
other  equally  ambitious,  would  make  a  better  father 
tlian  they  have,  and  nine  times  out  of  ten  they  don't 
get  as  good  a  one  again. 

I  insisted  on  explaining  to  these  two  chiefs  the  true 
situation  of  my  people.  They  gave  their  assent :  I 
rose  and  made  a  speech,  in  which  I  explained  to  them 
tlie  treaty  made  by  Quash-qua-me,  and  three  of  our 
braves,  according  to  the  manner  the  trader  and  others 
had  explained  it  to  me.  T  then  told  them  that  Quash- 
qua-me  and  his  party  denied^  positively,  having  ever 
sold  iiy  village  ;  auc  that,  at  I  had  never  known  them 
to  lie,  I  was  determined  to  keep  it  in  possession. 

I  told  them  that  the  white  people  had  already 
entered  our  villag*  ,  burnt  our  lodges,  destroyed  our 
fences,  ploughed  up  our  corn,  and  beat  our  people :  that 
they  had  brought  whisky  into  our  country,  mode  our 
people  drunk,  and  taken  from  them  their  horses,  guns, 
and  trap: ^  ^jnd  that  1  had  borne  all  this  injury,  with- 
out suffer?  m  any  of  my  braves  to  raise  a  hand  against 
the  whites. 


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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

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92 


LIFE    OF    BLACK   HAWK. 


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My  object  in  holding  this  council,  was  to  r;et  the 
opinion  of  these  two  chiefs,  as  to  the  best  course  for 
me  to  pursue.  I  had  appealed  in  vain,  time  after 
time,  to  our  agent,  who  regularly  represented  our  situ- 
ation to  the  great  chief  at  St.  Louis,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  call  upon  our  Great  Father  to  have  justice 
done  to  us ;  but  instead  of  this,  v^^e  are  told  that  the 
white  people  rvant  our  country,  and  we  must  leave  it 
to  them ! 

I  did  not  think  it  possible  that  our  Great  Father 
,  wished  us  to  leave  our  village,  where  v^^e  had  lived  so 
long^  and  where  the  bones  of  so  many  of  our  people 
had  been  laid.  The  great  chief  said  that,  as  he  was 
no  longer  a  chief,  he  could  do  nothing  for  us ;  and  felt 
sorry  that  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  aid  us — nor  did 
he  know  how  to  advise  us.  Neither  of  them  could  do 
any  thing  for  us ;  but  both  evidently  appeared  very 
sorry.  It  would  give  me  great  pleasure,  at  all  times, 
to  take  these  two  chiefs  by  the  hand. 

That  fall  I  paid  a  visit  to  the  agent,  before  we  start- 
ed to  our  hunting  grounds,  to  hear  if  he  had  any  good 
news  for  me.  He  had  news  !  He  said  that  the  land 
on  which  our  village  stood  was  now  ordered  to  be  sold 
to  individuals  ;  and  that,  when  sold,  our  right  to  re- 
main, by  treaty,  would  be  at  an  end,  and  that  if  we 
returned  next  spring,  we  would  be  forced  to  remove  1 

We  learned  during  the  winter,  that  part  of  the  lands 
where  our  village  stood  had  been  sold  to  iadividuals, 
and  that  the  trader  at  Rock  Island  had  bought  the 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


93 


greater  part  that  had  been  sold.  The  reason  was  now 
plain  to  me,  why  he  urged  us  to  remove.  His  object, 
we  thought,  was  to  get  our  lands.  We  held  several 
councils  that  winter  to  determine  what  we  should  do, 
and  resolved,  in  one  of  them,  to  return  to  our  village 
in  the  spring,  as  usual ;  and  concluded,  that  if  we 
were  removed  by  force,  that  the  trader^  agent,  and 
others,  must  be  the  cause  ;  and  that,  if  found  guilty 
of  having  us  driven  from  our  village,  they  should  be 
Icilhd  I  The  trader  stood  foremost  on  this  list.  He 
had  purchased  the  land  on  which  my  lodge  stood,  and 
that  of  our  grave  yard  also !  Ne-a-pope  promised  to 
kill  him,  the  agent,  interpreter,  the  great  chief  at  St. 
Louis,  the  war  chief  at  fort  Aimstrong,  Rock  Island, 
and  Ke-o-kuck — these  being  the  principal  persons  to 
blame  for  endeavoring  to  remove  us.  ^ 

Our  women  received  bad  accounts  from  the  women 
that  had  been  raising  corn  at  the  new  village — the  dif- 
ficulty of  breaking  the  new  prairie  with  hoes — and  the 
small  quantity  of  corn  raised.  We  were  nearly  in  the 
same  situation  in  regard  to  the  latter,  it  being  the  first 
time  I  ever  knew  our  people  to  be  in  want  of  pro- 
vision. 

I  prevailed  upon  some  of  Ke-o-kuck's  band  to  re- 
turn this  spring  to  the  Rock  river  village.  Ke-o-kuck 
would  not  return  with  us.  I  hoped  that  we  would  get 
permission  to  go  to  Washington  to  settle  our  affairs 
with  our  Great  Father.  I  visited  the  agent  at  Rock 
Island.     He  was  displeased  because  we  had  returned 


Mi' 


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94 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


to  our  village,  and  told  me  that  we  must  remove  to  the 
west  of  the  Mississippi.  I  told  him  plainly  that  we 
would  not !  I  visited  the  interpreter  at  his  house, 
who  advised  me  to  do  as  the  agent  had  directed  me. 
1  then  went  to  see  the  trader,  and  upbraided  him  for 
buying  our  lands.  He  said  that  if  he  had  not  pur- 
chased them,  some  person  else  would,  and  that  if  our 
Great  Father  would  make  an  exchange  with  us,  he 
would  willingly  give  up  the  land  he  had  purchased  to 
the  government.  This  I  thoup^ht  was  fair,  and  began 
to  think  that  he  had  not  acted  as  badly  as  I  had  suspect- 
ed. We  again  repaired  our  lodges,  and  built  others,  as 
most  of  our  village  had  been  burnt  and  destroyed. 
Our  women  selected  small  patches  to  plant  corn, 
(where  the  whites  had  not  taken  them  within  their 
fences,)  and  worked  hard  to  raise  something  for  our 
children  to  subsist  upon. 

I  was  told  that,  according  to  the  treaty,  we  had  no 
right  to  remain  upon  the  lands  sold,  and  that  the  gov- 
ernment would  force  us  to  leave  them.  There  was 
but  a  small  portion,  however,  that  had  been  sold  ;  the 
balance  remaining  in  the  hands  of  the  government, 
we  claimed  the  right  (if  we  had  no  other)  to  "  live 
and  hunt  upon,  as  long  as  it  remained  the  property  of 
the  government,"  by  a  stipulation  in  the  same  treaty 
that  required  us  to  evacuate  it  after  it  had  been  sold. 
This  was  the  land  that  we  wished  to  inhabit,  and 
thought  we  had  the  best  right  to  occupy. 

I  heard  that  there  was  a  great  chief  on  the  Wabash^ 


}:i 


LIFE    or    BLACK    HAWK. 


95 


and  sent  a  party  to  get  his  advice.  They  informed 
him  that  we  had  not  sold  our  village.  He  assured 
them,  then,  that  if  we  had  not  sold  the  land  on  which 
our  village  stood,  our  Great  Father  would  not  take  it 
from  us. 

I  started  early  to  Maiden  to  see  the  chief  of  my 
British  Father,  and  told  him  my  story.  He  gave  the 
same  reply  that  the  chief  on  the  Wabash  had  given  ; 
and  in  justice  to  him,  I  must  say,  that  he  never  gave 
me  any  bad  advice :  but  advised  me  to  apply  to  our 
American  Father,  who,  he  said,  would  do  us  justice. 
I  next  called  on  the  great  chief  at  Detroit,  and  made 
the  same  statement  to  him  that  I  had  to  the  chief  of 
our  British  Father.  He  gave  the  same  reply.  He 
said,  if  we  had  not  sold  our  lands,  and  would  remain 
peaceably  on  them,  that  we  would  not  be  disturbed. 
This  assured  me  that  I  was  right,  and  determined  me 
to  hold  out,  as  I  had  promised  my  people. 

I  returned  from  Maiden  late  in  the  fall.  My  people 
were  gone  to  their  hunting  grovmd,  whither  I  followed. 
Here  I  learned  that  they  had  been  badly  treated  all 
summer  by  the  whites  ;  and  that  a  treaty  had  been 
held  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  Ke-o-kuck  and  some  of 
our  people  attended  it,  and  found  out  that  our  Great 
Father  had  exchanged  a  small  strip  of  the  land  that 
was  ceded  by  Quash-qua-me  and  his  party,  with  the 
Pottowatomies,  for  a  portion  of  their  land,  near  Chi- 
cago ;  and  that  the  object  of  this  treaty  was  to  get  it 
back  again ;  and  that  the  United  States  had  agreed  to 


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96 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


give  them  sixteen  thoiLsand  dollars  a  year,  forever,  for 
this  small  strip  of  land — it  being  less  than  the  twenti- 
eth pait  of  that  taken  from  our  nation,  for  owe  thousand 
dollars  a  year!  This  bears  evidence  of  something  I 
cannot  explain.  This  land,  they  say,  belonged  to  the 
United  States.  What  reason,  then,  could  have  in- 
duced them  to  exchange  it  with  the  Pottowatomies,  if 
it  was  so  valuable  ?  Why  not  keep  it  ?  Or,  if  they 
found  that  they  had  made  a  bad  bargain  with  the  Pot- 
towatomies, why  not  take  back  their  land  at  a  fair 
proportion  of  what  they  gave  our  nation  for  it  ?  If 
this  small  portion  of  the  land  that  they  took  from  us 
for  one  thousand  dollars  a  year,  be  worth  sixteen  thou- 
sand dollars  a  year  forever,  to  the  Potto watomie«;, 
then  the  whole  tract  of  country  taken  from  us  ought 
to  be  w^orth,  to  our  nation,  twenty  times  as  much  as 
tins  small  fraction. 

Here  1  was  again  puzzled  to  find  out  how  the  white 
people  reasoned ;  and  began  to  doubt  whether  they 
had  any  standard  of  right  and  wrong ! 

Communication  was  kept  up  between  myself  and 
the  Prophet.  Runners  were  sent  to  the  Arkansas, 
Red  river  and  Texas — not  on  the  subject  of  our  lands, 
but  a  secret  mission,  which  I  am  not,  at  present,  per- 
mitted to  explain. 

It  w^as  related  to  me,  that  the  chiefs  and  headmen 
of  the  Foxes  had  been  invited  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  to 
hold  a  council  to  setde  the  differences  existing  be- 
tween  them  and  the  Sioux.     That   the   chiefs    and 


TvT 


LIFE    OP   BLACK    HAWK. 


97 


headmen,  amounting  to  nine,  started  for  the  place 
designated,  taking  with  tliem  one  woman — and  were 
met  by  the  Menomonees  and  Sioux,  near  the  Ouiscon- 
sin,  and  all  killed,  except  one  man.  Having  under- 
stood that  the  whole  matter  was  published  shordy 
after  it  occurred,  and  is  known  to  the  white  people,  I 
will  say  no  more  about  it. 

I  would  here  remark,  that  our  pastimes  and  sports 
had  been  laid  aside  for  the  last  two  years.  We  were 
a  divided  people,  forming  two  parties.  Ke-o-kuck 
being  at  the  head  of  one,  willing  to  barter  our 
rights  merely  for  the  good  opinion  of  the  whites ;  and 
cowardly  enough  to  desert  our  village  to  them.  I 
was  at  the  head  of  the  other  party,  and  was  deter- 
mined to  hold  on  to  my  village,  although  I  had  been 
ordered  to  leave  it.  But,  I  considered,  as  myself  and 
band  had  no  agency  in  selling  our  country — and  that 
as  provision  had  been  made  in  the  treaty,  for  us  all 
to  remain  on  it  as  long  as  it  belonged  to  the  United 
States,  that  we  could  not  be  forced  away.  I  refused, 
therefore,  to  quit  my  village.  It  was  here,  that  I  was 
born — and  here  lie  the  bones  of  many  friends  and  re- 
lations. For  this  spot  I  felt  a  sacred  reverence,  and 
never  could  consent  to  leave  it,  without  being  forced 
therefrom. 

When  I  called  to  mind  the  scenes  of  my  youth, 

and  those  of  later  days — and  reflected  that  the  theatre 

on    which  these  were  acted,  had  been  so  long  the 

home  of  my  fathers,  who  now  slept  on  the  hills  around 

9 


K» 


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1 1'' 


i      I 


i    < 


f^'      , 


98 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


it,  I  could  not  bring  my  mind  to  consent  to  leave 
this  country  to  the  whites,  for  any  earthly  consid- 
eration. 

The  winter  passed  off  in  gloom.  We  made  a  bad 
hunt,  for  want  of  the  guns,  traps,  &:c.  that  the  whites 
had  taken  from  our  peo})le  for  whisky  I  The  pros- 
pect before  us  was  a  bad  one.  I  fasted,  and  called 
upon  the  Great  Spirit  to  direct  my  steps  to  the  right 
path.  I  was  in  great  sorrow — because  all  tlie  whites 
with  whom  I  was  acquainted,  and  had  been  on  terms 
of  friendship,  advised  me  so  contrary  to  my  wishes, 
that  T  began  to  doubt  whether  I  had  a  friend  among 
them. 

Ke-o-kuck,  who  has  a  smooth  tongue,  and  is  a 
great  speaker,  was  busy  in  persuading  my  band  that  I 
was  wrong — and  thereby  making  many  of  them  dis- 
satisfied with  me.  I  had  one  consolation — for  all  the 
women  were  on  my  side,  on  account  of  their  corn- 
fields. 

On  my  arrival  again  at  my  village,  with  my  band 
increased,  I  found  it  worse  than  before.  I  visited 
Rock  Island.  The  agent  again  ordered  me  to  quit 
my  village.  He  said,  that  if  we  did  not,  troops 
would  be  sent  to  drive  us  off.  He  reasoned  with  me, 
and  told  me,  it  would  be  better  for  us  to  be  with  the 
rest  of  our  people,  so  that  we  might  avoid  difficulty, 
and  live  in  peace.  The  interjyretc?-  pmed  him,  and 
gave  me  so  many  good  reasons,  that  I  almost  wished 
I  had   not   undertaken    the  difficult  task  that  I  had 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


99 


"It 


pledged  myself  to  my  brave  band  to  perform.  In 
this  mood,  I  called  upon  the  trader,  who  is  fond  of 
talking,  and  had  long  been  my  friend,  but  now 
amongst  those  advising  me  to  give  up  my  village.  He 
received  me  very  friendly,  and  went  on  to  defend 
Ke-o-kuck  in  what  he  had  done,  and  endeavored  to 
show  me  that  I  was  bringing  distress  on  our  women 
and  children.  He  inquired,  if  some  terms  could  not 
be  made,  that  would  be  honorable  to  me,  and  satis- 
factory to  my  braves,  for  us  to  remove  to  die  west  side 
of  the  Mississippi  ?  I  replied,  that  if  our  Great 
Father  would  do  us  justice,  and  would  make  the  prop- 
osition, I  could  then  give  up  honorably.  He  asked 
me,  '^  if  the  great  chief  at  St.  Louis  would  give  us  six 
thousand  dollars  to  purchase  provisions  and  other  arti- 
cles, if  I  would  give  up  peaceably,  and  remove  to  the 
west  side  of  the  Mississippi?"  After  thinking  some 
time,  I  agreed^  that  I  could  honorably  give  up,  by  be- 
ing paid  for  it,  according  to  our  customs  ;  but  told 
him,  that  I  could  not  make  the  proposal  myself,  even 
if  I  wished,  because  it  would  be  dishonorable  in  me  to 
do  so.  He  said  he  would  do  it,  by  sending  word  to 
the  great  chief  at  St.  Louis,  that  he  could  remove  us 
peaceably,  for  the  amount  stated,  to  the  west  side  of  the 
Mississippi.  A  steam-boat  arrived  at  the  island  during 
my  stay.  After  its  departure,  the  trader  told  me  that  he 
had  "  requested  a  war  chief,  who  is  stationed  at  Gale- 
na, and  was  on  board  of  the  steam-boat,  to  make  the 
offer  to  the  great  chief  at  St.  Louis,  and  that  he  would 
soon  be  back,  and  bring  his  answer."   I  did  not  let  my 


fl 


I:     » 


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wrr 


100 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


people  know  what  had  taken  place,  for  fear  they 
would  he  displeased.  I  did  not  much  like  what  had 
been  done  myself,  and  tried  to  banish  it  from  my 
mind. 

After  a  few  days  had  passed,  the  war  chief  return- 
ed, and  brought  for  answer,  that  *'  the  great  chief  at 
St.  Louis  would  give  IjS  nothing  ! — and  said  if  we  did 
not  remove  immediately,  we  should  be  drove  off  P^ 

I  was  not  much  displeased  with  the  answer  brought 
by  the  war  chief,  because  I  would  rather  hare  laid  my 
bones  with  my  forefathers,  than  remove  for  any  con- 
sideration. Yet  if  a  friendly  offer  had  been  made,  as 
I  expected,  I  would,  for  the  sake  of  my  women  and 
children,  have  removed  peaceably. 

I  now  resolved  to  remain  in  my  village,  and  make 
no  resistance,  if  the  military  came,  but  submit  to  my 
fate  !  I  impressed  the  importance  of  this  course  on 
all  my  band,  and  directed  them,  in  case  the  military 
came,  not  to  raise  an  arm  against  them. 

About  this  time,  our  agent  was  put  out  of  office — 
for  what  reason,  I  never  could  ascertain.  I  then 
thought,  if  it  was  for  wanting  to  make  us  leave  our 
village,  it  was  right — because  I  was  tired  of  hearing 
him  talk  about  it.  The  interpreter,  who  had  been 
equally  as  bad  in  trying  to  persuade  us  to  leave  our 
village,  was  retained  in  office — and  the  young  man 
who  took  the  place  of  our  agent,  told  the  same  old 
story  over  about  removing  us.  I  was  then  satisfied, 
that  this  could  not  have  'leen  the  cause» 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


101 


Our  woinea  had  planted  a  few  patches  of  corn, 
which  was  growing  finely,  anil  promised  a  suhsistence 
for  our  children — but  the  w/iitc  people  again  eomnu  ne- 
ed ploughing  it  up  !  1  now  determined  to  put  a  stop 
to  it,  by  clearing  our  country  of  the  intruders.  1 
went  to  the  principal  men  and  told  theni,  that  they 
must  and  should  leave  our  country — and  gave  them 
uiuil  the  middle  of  the  next  day,  to  remove  in.  The 
worst  left  within  the  time  appointed — but  die  one  who 
remained,  represented,  that  his  family,  (v  ilch  was 
large,)  would  be  in  a  starving  condition,  if  he  went 
and  left  his  crop — and  promised  to  behave  well,  if  I 
would  consent  to  let  him  remain  until  fall,  in  order  ,to 
secure  his  crop.  He  spoke  reasonably,  and  I  con- 
sented. 

We  now  resumed  some  of  our  games  and  pastimes 
— having  been  assured  by  the  prophet  that  we  would 
not  be  removed.  But  in  a  litde  while  it  was  ascer- 
tained, that  a  great  war  chief,  [Gen.  Gaines,]  with  a 
large  number  of  soldiers,  was  on  his  way  to  Rock  riv- 
er. I  again  called  upon  the  prophet,  wlio  requested  a 
little  time  to  see  into  the  matter.  Early  next  morn- 
ing he  came  to  me,  and  said  he  had  been  dreaming  / 
"  That  he  saw  nothing  bad  in  this  great  war  chief, 
[Gen.  Gaines,]  who  was  now  near  Rock  river.  That 
the  object  of  his  mission  was  to  frighten  us  from  our 
village,  that  the  white  people  might  get  our  land  for 
nothing  .'"  He  assured  us  that  this  "  great  war  chief 
'dare  not,  and  would  not,  hurt  any  of  us.  That  the 
9* 


|lK4 


I  /'  : 


?:! 


.  I 


h 


} 


>t. 


I  \ 


«     ! 


102 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


Americans  were  at  peace  with  the  Britisli,  and  when 
they  made  |)eace,  the  British  requiredj  (which  the 
Americans  agreed  to,)  that  they  should  never  interrupt 
any  nation  of  Indians  that  was  at  peace — and  diat  all 
we  had  to  do  to  retain  our  village,  was  to  refuse  any, 
and  every  ofler  Uiut  might  he  made  hy  this  war 
chief.' 

The  war  chief  arrived,  and  convened  a  council  at 
the  agency.  Ke-o-kuck  and  Wa-pel-lo  were  sent  for, 
and  came  with  a  nuniher  of  their  hand.  The  council 
house  was  opened,  and  they  were  all  admitted.  My- 
self and  band  were  then  sent  for  to  attend  the  council. 
When  v.e  arrived  at  the  door,  singing  a  war  sovg,  and 
armed  with  lances,  spears,  war  clubs  and  bows  and  ar- 
rows, as  if  going  to  battle,  I  halted,  and  refused  to  en- 
ter— as  I  could  see  no  necessity  or  propriety  in  having 
the  room  crowded  with  those  who  were  already  there. 
If  the  council  was  convened  for  us,  why  have  others 
there  in  our  room  ?  The  war  chief  having  sent  all 
out,  except  Ke-o-kuck,  Wa-pel-lo,  and  a  few  of  their 
chiefs  and  braves,  we  entered  the  council  house,  in 
this  war-like  appearance,  being  desirous  to  show  the 
war  chief  that  we  were  not  afraid !  He  then  rose 
and  made  a  speech. 

He  said  : 

"The  president  is  very  sorry  to  be  put  to  the 
trouble  and  expense  of  sending  a  large  body  of  sol- 
diers here,  to  remove  you  from  the  lands  you  have 
long  since  ceded  to  the  United  States.     Your  Great 


LIFE   OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


103 


.III*-' 


Father  has  already  warned  you  repeatedly,  through 
your  agent,  to  leave  the  country  ;  and  he  is  very  sorry 
to  find  that  you  have  disobeyed  his  orders.  Your 
Great  Father  wishes  you  well :  and  asks  nothing  from 
you  but  what  is  reasonable  and  right.  I  hope  you 
will  consult  your  own  interest,  and  leave  the  country 
you  are  occupying,  and  go  to  the  other  side  of  the 
Mississippi." 

I  replied  :  "  That  we  had  never  sold  our  country. 
We  never  received  any  annuities  from  our  American 
fadier!  And  we  are  determined  to  hold  on  to  our 
village !" 

The  war  chief,  apparentiy  angr}'^,  rose  and  said  : — 
«  Who  is  Black  Hawk  1     Who  is  Black  Hawk  V 

I  responded  : 

"  I  am  a  Sac !  my  forefather  was  a  Sac  !  and  all 
the  nations  call  me  a  SAC  11" 

The  war  chief  said  : 

"  I  came  here,  neither  to  beg  nor  hire  you  to  leave 
your  village.  My  business  is  to  remove  you,  peacea- 
bly if  I  can,  but  forcibly  if  I  must  1  I  will  now  give 
you  two  days  to  remove  in — and  if  you  do  not  cross 
the  Mississippi  within  that  time,  I  will  adopt  measures 
to  force  you  away  !" 

I  told  him  that  I  never  could  con5:ent  to  leave  my 
village,  and  was  determuied  not  to  leave  it  1 

The  council  broke  up,  and  the  war  chief  retired  to 
the  fort.  I  consulted  the  prophet  again  :  He  said  he 
had  been  dreaming,  and  that  the  Great  Spirit  had  di- 


,   II 


k 


1 

1 

) 

'  1 

1 

■  i 

f 

' 

r.l 

* 

\ 

f 

1 

i 

■..I 

i  f  ( 

.,  1 

fim^ 


m^ 


['>  > 


% 


I 


104 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


reeled  that  a  woman,  the  (laughter  of  Mat-ta-tas,  the 
rM  chief  of  the  village,  should  take  a  stick  in  her  hand 
and  go  before  the  war  chief,  and  tell  him  that  she  is 
the  daughter  of  Mat-ta-tas,  and  that  he  had  alwa3^s 
been  the  white  mane's  friend, !  That  he  had  fought 
their  battles — been  wounded  in  their  service — and  had 
always  spoke  well  of  them — and  she  had  never  heard 
him  say  that  he  had  sold  their  village.  The  whiles 
arc  numerous,  and  can  take  it  from  us  if  they  choose ; 
but  she  hoped  they  would  not  be  so  unfriendly.  If 
they  were,  she  had  one  favor  to  ask :  she  wished  her 
people  to  be  allowed  to  remain  long  enough  to  gather 
the  provisions  now  growing  in  their  fields :  that  she 
was  a  w^oman,  and  had  worked  hard  to  raise  something 
to  support  her  children  !  And,  if  we  are  driven  from 
our  village  without  being  allowed  to  save  our  corn, 
many  of  our  little  children  must  perish  with  hunger ! " 

Accordingly,  Mat-ta-tas'  daughter  was  sent  to  the 
fort,  accompanied  by  several  of  our  young  men.  They 
were  admitted.  She  went  before  the  war  chief,  and 
told  the  story  of  the  prophet !  The  war  chief  said 
that  the  president  did  not  send  him  here  to  make 
treaties  with  the  women,  nor  to  hold  council  with 
them  !  That  our  young  men  must  leave  the  fort,  but 
she  might  remain  if  she  wished  ! 

All  our  plans  were  now  defeated.  We  must  cross 
the  river,  or  return  to  our  village  and  await  the  com- 
ing of  the  war  chief  with  his  soldiers.  We  determined 
on  the  latter:  but  findvigthat  our  agent,  interpreter, 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


105 


trader,  and  Ke-o-kuck,  (who  were  determined  on 
breaking  my  ranks,)  had  seduced  several  of  my  war- 
riors to  cross  the  Mississippi,  I  sent  a  deputation  to  the 
agent,  at  the  request  of  my  band,  pledging  myself  to 
leave  the  country  in  the  fall,  provided  permission  was 
given  us  to  remain,  and  secure  our  crop  of  corn,  then 
growing — as  we  would  be  in  a  starving  situatic ti  if  we 
were  driven  off  without  the  means  of  subsistence. 

The  deputation  returned  with  an  answer  from  the 
war  chief,  *'  that  no  further  time  would  be  given  us 
than  that  specified,  and  if  we  were  not  then  gone,  he 
would  remove  us  !  " 

I  directed  my  village  crier  to  proclaim,  that  my 
orders  were,  in  the  event  of  the  war  chief  coming  to 
our  village  to  remove  us,  that  not  a  gun  should  be 
fired,  nor  any  resistance  offered.  That  if  he  deter- 
mined to  fight,  for  them  to  remain  quietly  in  their 
lodges,  and  let  him  kill  them  if  he  chose  ! 

I  felt  conscious  that  this  great  war  chief  would 
not  hurt  our  people — and  my  object  was  not  war! 
Had  it  been,  we  would  have  attacked,  and  killed  the 
war  chief  and  his  braves,  when  in  council  with  us — as 
they  were  then  completely  in  our  power.  But  his 
manly  conduct  and  soldierly  deportment,  his  mild,  yet 
energetic  manner,  which  proved  his  bravery,  for- 
bade  it. 

Some  of  our  young  men  who  had  been  out  as  spies^ 
came  in  and  reported,  that  they  had  discovered  a  large 
body  of  mounted  men  coming  towards  our  village,  who 


0 


y     ). 


It. 


M\ 


r^i 


'■.ii; 


'f 


m 


.■; 


m 


I: 


106 


LIFE    or   BLACK    HAWK. 


looked  like  a  war  party.  They  arrived,  and  took  a 
position  below  Rock  river,  for  their  place  of  encannp- 
ment.  The  great  war  chief,  (Gen.  Gaines.)  entered 
Rock  river  in  a  steam-boat,  with  his  soldiers  and 
one  big  gun !  They  passed,  and  returned  close  by 
our  village ;  but  excited  no  alarm  among  my  braves. 
No  attention  was  paid  to  the  boat  by  any  of  our 
people — even  our  little  children,  who  were  playing 
on  the  bank  of  the  river,  as  usual,  continued  their 
amusement.  The  water  being  shallow,  the  boat  got 
aground,  which  gave  the  whites  some  trouble.  If  they 
had  asked  for  assistance,  there  was  not  a  brave  in  my 
band,  who  would  not  willingly  have  aided  them.  Their 
people  were  permitted  to  pass  and  repass  through  our 
village,  and  were  treated  with  friendship  by  our 
people. 

The  war  chief  appointed  the  next  day  to  remove 
us !  I  would  have  remained  and  been  taken  prisoner 
by  the  regulars,  but  was  afraid  of  the  multitude  of 
pale  faces,  who  were  on  horseback,  as  they  were  un- 
der no  restraint  of  their  chiefs. 

We  crossed  the  Mississippi  during  the  night,  and 
encamped  some  distance  below  Rock  Island.  The 
great  war  chief  convened  another  council,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  a  treaty  with  us.  In  this  treaty  he 
agreed  to  give  us  corn  in  place  of  that  we  had  left 
growing  in  our  fields.  I  touched  the  goosequiU  to  this 
treaty,  and  was  determined  to  live  in  peace. 

The  corn  that  had  been  given  us,  was  soon  found  to 


:■!! 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


107 


be  inadequate  to  our  wants ;  when  loud  lamentations 
were  heard  in  the  camp,  by  our  women  and  children, 
for  their  roasting-cars,  beans  and  squcshcs*  To  satis- 
fy them,  a  small  party  of  braves  went  over,  in  the  night, 
to  steal  corn  from  their  own  fields.  They  were  dis- 
covered by  the  whites,  and  fired  upon.  Complaints 
were  again  made  of  the  depredations  committed  by 
some  of  my  people,  on  their  own  corn  fields  I 

I  understood  from  our  agent,  that  there  had  been  a 
provision  made  in  one  of  our  treaties  for  assistance  in 
agriculture,  and  that  we  could  have  our  fields  plough- 
ed if  we  required  it.  I  therefore  called  upon  him, 
and  requested  him  to  have  me  a  small  log  house  built, 
and  a  field  ploughed  that  fall,  as  I  wished  to  live  retir- 
ed. He  promised  to  have  it  done.  I  then  went  to 
the  trader,  and  asked  for  permission  to  be  buried  in 
the  grave-yard  at  our  village,  among  my  old  friends 
and  warriors ;  which  he  gave  cheerfully.  I  then  re- 
turned to  my  people  satisfied. 

A  short  time  after  this,  a  party  of  Foxes  went  up  to 
Prairie  du  Chien  to  avenge  the  murder  of  their  chiefs 
and  relations,  which  had  been  committed  the  summer 
previous,  by  the  Menomonees  and  Sioux.  When  they 
arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  encampment  of  the  Me- 
nomonees, they  met  with  a  Winnebago,  and  inquired 
for  the  Menomonee  camp ;  and  requested  him  to  go 
on  before  them  and  see  if  there  were  any  Winneba- 
goes  in  it — and  if  so,  to  tell  them  that  they  had  better 
return  to  their  own  camp.     He  went,  and  gave  the  in- 


i\  i^ 


^^f! 


•• .  i 


i  ; 


I 


108 


LIFE  OF  BLACK  HAWK. 


I 


formation,  not  only  to  the  Winnebagoes,,  but  to  the 
Menomonees,  that  tliey  might  be  prepared.  The 
party  soon  followed,  killed  twenty-eight  Menomonees, 
and  made  their  escape. 

This  retaliation,  (which  with  us  is  considered  lawful 
and  right,)  created  considerable  excitement  among  the 
whites !  A  demand  was  made  for  the  Foxes  to  be 
surrendered  to,  and  tried  by,  the  white  people  !  The 
principal  men  came  to  me  during  the  fall,  and  asked 
my  advice.  I  conceived  that  they  had  done  right, 
and  that  our  Great  Father  acted  very  unjustly,  in  de- 
manding them,  when  he  had  suffered  all  their  chiefs  to 
be  decoyed  away,  and  murdered  by  the  Menomonees, 
without  having  ever  made  a  similar  demand  of  them. 
If  he  had  no  right  in  the  first  instance,  he  had  none 
now  ;  and  for  my  part,  I  conceive  the  right  very 
questionable,  if  not  altogether  usurpation,  in  any  c^e, 
where  a  difference  exists  between  two  nations,  for  him 
to  interfere !  The  Foxes  joined  my  band,  with  an  in- 
tention to  go  out  with  them  to  hunt. 

About  this  time,  Ne-a-pope,  (who  started  to  Mai- 
den when  it  was  ascertained  that  the  great  war  chief, 
Gen.  Gaines,  was  coming  to  remove  us,)  returned. 
He  said  he  had  seen  the  chief  of  our  British  father, 
and  asked  him  if  the  Americans  could  force  us  to  leave 
our  village }  He  said — '*  If  we  had  not  sold  our 
village  and  land,  the  American  government  could  not 
take  them  from  us.  That  the  right,  being  vested  in 
us,  could  only  be  transferred  by  the  voice  and  will  of 


**: 


'  (' 


LifE    OF   BLACK   HaWk. 


109 


the  whole  nation ;  and  that,  as  we  had  never  [^iven 
our  consent  to  the  sale  of  our  country,  it  remained 
our  exclusive  property — from  which  the  American 
government  never  could  force  us  away !  and  that,  in 
the  event  of  war,  we  should  have  nothing  to  fear ! 
as  they  would  stand  by  and  assist  us  ! " 

He  said  he  had  called  at  the  prophet's  village  on  his 
way  down,  and  had  there  learned,  for  the  first  time, 
tliat  we  had  left  our  village.  He  informed  me,  pri- 
vately, that  the  prophet  was  anxious  to  see  me,  as  he 
had  much  good  news  to  tell  me,  and  that  I  would, 
hear  good  news  in  the  spring  from  our  British  father. 
The  prophet  requested  me  to  inform  you  of  all  the 
particulars.  I  would  much  rather,  however,  you 
should  see  him,  and  learn  all  from  himself  But  I 
will  tell  you,  that  he  has  received  expresses  from  our 
British  father,  who  says  that  he  is  going  to  send  us 
guns,  ammunition,  provisions,  and  clothing,  early  in 
the  spring.  The  vessels  that  bring  them  will  come  by 
way  of  Mil-wa-ke.  The  prophet  has  likewise  receiv- 
ed wampum  and  tobacco  fiom  the  different  nations 
on  the  lakes — 'Ottowas,  Chippewas,  Pottowatomies ; 
and  as  for  the  Winnebagoes,  he  has  them  all  at  his 
command.     We  are  going  to  be  happy  once  more ! 

I  told  him  that  I  was  pleased  to  hear  that  our  Brit- 
ish father  intended  to  see  us  right':d.  That  we  had 
been  driven  from  our  lands  without  receiving  any 
thing  for  them — and  I  now  began  to  hope,  from  his 
talk,  that  my  people  would  be  once  more  happy.  If 
10 


!!; 


i 


]   1 


r 


hM 


I. 


110 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


^ 


•4       -I 


I  could  accomplish  this,  I  would  be  satisfied.  I  am 
now  growing  old,  and  could  spend  the  remnant  of  my 
time  anywhere.  But  I  wish  first  to  see  my  people 
happy.  I  can  then  leave  them  cheerfully.  This  has 
always  been  my  constant  aim ;  and  I  now  begin  to 
hope  that  our  sky  will  soon  be  clear. 

Ne-a-pope  said  :  *'  The  prophet  told  me  that  all  the 
different  tribes  before  mentioned  would  Jight  for  us,  if 
necessary,  and  the  British  would  support  us.  And,  if 
we  should  be  whipped,  (which  is  hardly  possible,)  we 
will  still  be  safe,  the  prophet  having  received  a  friendly 
talk  from  the  chief  of  Was-sa-cum-mi-co,  (at  Selkirk's 
settlement,)  telling  him,  that  if  we  were  not  satisfied  in 
our  country,  to  let  him  know,  and  "he  would  make  us 
happy.  That  he  had  received  information  from  our 
British  father,  that  we  had  been  badly  treated  by  the 
Americans.  We  must  go  and  see  the  prophet.  I 
will  go  first ;  you  had  better  remain  and  get  as  many 
of  our  people  to  join  us  as  you  can.  You  now  know 
every  thing  that  we  have  done.  We  leave  the  matter 
with  you  to  arrange  among  your  people  as  you 
please.  I  will  return  to  the  prophet's  village  to- 
morrow ;  you  can,  in  the  mean  time,  make  up  your 
mind  as  to  the  course  you  will  take,  and  sen^  word  to 
the  prophet  by  me,  as  he  is  anxious  to  assist  us,  and 
wishes  to  know  whether  you  will  join  us,  and  assist  to 
make  your  people  happy  i" 

During  that  night,  I  thought  over  every  thing  that 
Ne-a-pope  had  told  me,  and  was  pleased  to  think  that, 


LIFE    OP    BLACK    HAWK. 


Ill 


JIM' 


by  a  little  exertion  on  my  part,  I  could  accomplish 
the  object  of  all  my  wishes.  I  determined  to  follow 
the  advice  of  the  prophet,  and  sent  word  by  Ne-a- 
pope,  that  I  would  get  all  my  braves  together,  and 
explain  every  thing  that  I  had  heard  to  them; 
and  recruit  as  many  as  I  could  from  the  dijSerei.t  vil- 
lages. 

Accordingly,  I  sent  word  to  Ke-o-kuck's  band  and 
the  Fox  tribe,  and  explained  to  them  all  the  good 
news  I  had  heard.  They  would  not  hear.  Ke-o- 
kuck  said  that  I  had  been  imposed  upon  by  liars,  and 
had  much  better  remain  where  I  was  and  keep  quiet. 
When  he  found  that  I  was  determined  to  make  an 
attempt  to  secure  my  village,  and  fearing  that  some 
difficulty  would  arise,  he  made  application  to  the  agent 
and  great  eiiief  at  St.  Louis,  for  permission  for  the 
chiefs  of  our  nation  to  go  to  Washington  to  see  our 
Great  Father,  that  we  might  have  our  difficulties  set- 
tled amicably.  Ke-o-kuck  also  requested  the  trader, 
who  was  going  on  to  Washington,  to  call  on  our  Great 
Father  and  explain  every  thing  to  him,  and  ask  for 
permission  for  us  to  come  on  and  see  him. 

Having  heard  nothing  favorable  from  the  great 
chief  at  St.  Louis,  I  concluded  that  I  had  better  keep 
my  band  together,  and  recruit  as  many  more  as  pos- 
sible, so  that  I  would  be  prepared  to  make  the  attempt 
to  rescue  my  village  in  the  spring,  provided  our 
Great  Father  did  not  send  word  for  us  to  go  to  Wash- 


i*- ' 


•  1.. : 


J  ■ 


■  I 

■  \ 


ington. 


■  \ 


'  \ 


\12 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


The  trader  returned.  He  said  lie  had  called  on 
our  Great  Father  and  made  a  full  statement  to  him  in 
relation  to  our  difliculties,  and  had  asked  leave  for  us 
to  go  to  Washington,  but  had  received  no  answer. 

I  had  determined  to  listen  to  the  advice  of  my 
friends — and  if  permitted  to  go  to  see  our  Great 
Father,  to  abide  by  bis  counsel,  whatever  it  might  be. 
Every  overture  was  made  by  Ke-o-kuck  to  prevent 
difficulty,  and  I  anxiously  hoped  that  something  would 
be  done  for  my  people,  that  it  might  be  avoided.  But 
there  was  bad  management  somewhere,  or  the  difficulty 
that  has  taken  place  ivould  have  been  avoided. 

When  it  was  ascertained  that  we  would  not  be  per- 
mitted to  go  to  Washington,  I  resolved  upon  my 
course,  and  again  tried  to  recruit  some  braves  from 
Ke-o-kuck's  band  to  accompany  me,  but  could  not. 

Conceiving  that  the  peaceable  disposition  of  Ke-o- 
kuck  and  his  people  had  been,  in  a  great  measure, 
the  cause  of  our  having  been  driven  from  our  village, 
I  ascribed  their  present  feelings  to  the  same  cause  ; 
and  immediately  went  to  work  to  recruit  all  my  own 
band,  and  made  preparations  to  ascend  Rock  river. 
I  made  my  encampment  on  the  Mississippi,  where  fort 
Madison  had  stood  ;  requested  my  people  to  rendez- 
vous at  that  place,  and  sent  out  soldiers  to  bring  in  the 
warriors,  and  stationed  my  sentinels  in  a  position  to 
prevent  any  from  moving  up  until  all  were  ready. 

My  party  having  all  come  in  and  got  ready,  we  com- 
menced  our  march  up  the   Mississippi — our  women 


LIFE  OF  BLACK  HAWK. 


113 


and  children  in  canoes,  carrying  such  provisions  as 
we  had,  camp  equipage,  &z;c.,  and  my  hraves  and  war- 
riors on  horseback,  armed  and  equipped  for  defence. 
The  propliet  came  down  and  joined  us  below  Rock 
river,  having  called  at  Rock  Island,  on  his  way  do'vn, 
to  consult  the  war  chief,  agent,  and  trader,  who  (he 
said)  used  many  arguments  to  dissuade  him  froni  go- 
ing with  us ;  and  requested  him  to  come  and  meet  us, 
and  turn  us  back.  They  told  him  also,  that  there  was 
a  war  chief  on  his  way  to  Rock  Island  with  a  large 
body  of  soldiers. 

The  prophet  said  he  would  not  listen  to  this  talk, 
because  no  v/ar  chief  dare  molest  us  as  long  as  we  are 
at  peace.  That  we  had  a  right  to  go  where  we 
pleased  peaceably  ;  and  advised  me  to  say  nothing  to 
my  braves  and  warriors  until  we  encamped  that  night. 
We  moved  onward  until  we  arrived  at  the  place 
where  Gen.  Gaines  had  made  his  encampment  the 
year  before,  and  encamped  for  the  night.  The  proph- 
et then  addressed  my  braves  and  warriors.  He  told 
them  to  ^'  follow  us,  and  act  like  braves,  and  we  had 
nothing  to  fear,  but  much  to  gain.  That  the  Ameri- 
can war  chief  might  cone,  but  would  not,  nor  dare  not, 
interfere  with  us  so  long  as  we  acted  peaceably  ! 
That  we  were  not  yet  ready  to  act  otherwise.  We 
must  wait  until  we  ascend  Rock  river  and  receive  our 
reinforcements,  and  we  will  then  be  able  to  withstand 
any  army  ! " 

That  night  the  White  Beaver,  [Gen.  Atkinson,] 
10* 


:lll» 


iv 


i  I)  ' 


if! 


! 


,,|'P  ! 


tj^L  r**  I 


t  I  ■  1 


ii     ''' 


114 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


with  a  party  of  soldiers,  passed  up  in  steam-boats. 
Our  party  became  alarmed,  expecting  to  meet  the  sol- 
diers at  Rock  river,  to  prevent  us  from  going  up.  On 
our  arrival  at  its  mouth,  we  discovered  that  the  steam- 
boats had  passed  on.  I  was  fearful  that  the  war  chief 
had  stationed  his  men  on  some  bluff,  or  in  some  ra- 
vine, that  we  might  be  taken  by  surprise.  Conse- 
quently, on  entering  Rock  river,  we  commenced  beat- 
ing our  drums  and  singing,  to  show  the  Americans  that 
we  were  not  afraid. 

Having  met  with  no  opposition,  we  moved  up  Rock 
river  leisurely  some  distance,  when  we  were  overtaken 
by  an  express  from  the  White  Beaver,  with  an  order 
for  me  to  return  with  my  band,  and  recross  the  Mis- 
sissippi again.  I  sent  him  word  that  "  I  would  not, 
(not  recognizing  his  right  to  make  such  a  demand,)  as 
I  was  acting  peaceably,  and  intended  to  go  to  the 
prophet's  village,  at  his  request,  to  make  corn." 

The  express  returned.  We  moved  on,  and  en- 
camped some  distance  below  the  prophet's  village. 
Here  another  express  came  from  the  White  Beaver, 
threatening  to  pursue  us  and  drive  us  back,  if  we  did 
not  return  peaceably !  This  message  roused  the  spirit 
of  my  band,  and  all  were  determined  to  remain  with 
me  and  contest  the  ground  with  the  war  chief,  should 
he  come  and  attempt  to  drive  us.  We  therefore  di- 
rected the  express  to  say  to  the  war  chief,  "  if  he 
wished  to  Jight  us,  he  might  come  on  !"  We  were 
determined  never  to  be  driven,  and  equally  so,  not  to 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


115 


Ill4.' 


make  the  first  attack^  our  object  being  to  act  only  on 
the  defensiv^e.     This  we  conceived  our  right. 

Soon  after  the  express  returned,  Mr.  Gratiot,  sub- 
agent  for  the  Winnebagoes,  with  several  of  the  chiefs 
and  headmen  of  the  Winnebago  nation,  came  to  our 
encampment.  He  had  no  interpreter — and  was  com- 
pelled to  talk  through  his  chiefs.  They  said  the  ob- 
ject of  his  mission  was,  to  persuade  us  to  return.  But 
they  advised  us  to  go  on — assuring  us,  that  the  further 
we  went  up  Rock  river,  the  more  friends  we  would 
meet,  and  our  situation  be  bettered  ;  that  they  were 
on  our  side,  and  all  their  people  were  our  friends  :  that 
we  must  not  give  up — ^but  continue  to  ascend  Rock 
river,  on  which,  in  a  short  time,  we  would  receive  a 
reinforcement  sufficiently  strong  to  repulse  any  enemy  ! 
They  said  they  would  go  down  with  their  agent,  to  as- 
certain the  strength  of  the  enemy,  and  then  return 
and  give  us  the  news :  that  they  had  to  use  some 
stratagem  to  deceive  their  agent,  in  order  to  help  us ! 

During  this  council,  a  number  of  my  braves  hoisted 
the  British  flag,  mounted  their  horses,  and  surrounded 
the  council  lodge !  I  discovered  that  the  agent  was 
very  much  frightened  !  I  told  one  of  his  chiefs  to  tell 
him  that  he  need  not  be  alarmed — ^and  then  went  out 
and  directed  my  braves  to  desist.  Every  warrior  im- 
mediately dismounted,  and  returned  to  his  lodge.  Af- 
ter the  council  adjourned,  I  placed  a  sentinel  at  the 
agent's  lodge,  to  guard  him — fearing  that  some  of  my 
warriors   might   again   frighten   him !     I  had   always 


1  \ 


A 


\i\ 


l\ 


r 


IIG 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


thought  that  lio  was  a  good  man,  and  was  determined 
that  he  should  not  be  hurt.  He  started,  with  his 
chiefs,  for  Rock  Island. 

Having  ascertained  that  the  White  Beaver  would  not 
permit  us  to  remain  here,  I  began  to  consider  what 
was  best  to  be  done,  and  concluded  to  keep  up  the 
river  and  see  the  Pottowatomies,  and  have  a  talk  with 
them.  Several  Winnebago  chiefs  were  present, 
whom  I  advised  of  my  intentions,  as  they  did  not 
seem  disposed  to  render  us  any  assistance.  I  asked 
them  if  they  had  not  sent  us  wampum  during  the  win- 
ter, and  requested  us  to  come  and  join  their  people 
and  enjoy  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  their  coun- 
try }  They  did  not  deny  this ;  and  said  if  the  white 
people  did  not  interfere,  they  had  no  objection  to  our 
making  corn  this  year,  with  our  friend  die  prophet ; 
but  did  not  wish  us  to  go  any  further  up. 

The  next  day,  I  started  with  my  party  to  Kish-wa- 
co-kee.  That  night  I  encamped  a  short  distance 
above  the  prophet's  village.  After  all  was  quirtuin  my 
camp,  I  sent  for  my  chiefs,  and  told  them  that  we  had 
been  deceived!  That  all  the  fair  promises  that  had 
been  held  out  to  us,  dirough  Ne-a-pope,  were  false! 
But  it  would  not  do  to  let  our  party  know  it.  We 
must  keep  it  secret  among  ourselves — and  move  on  to 
Kish-wa-co-kee,  as  if  all  was  right,  and  say  something 
on  the  way  to  encourage  our  people.  I  will  then  call 
on  the  Pottowatomies,  and  hear  what  they  say,  and 
see  what  they  will  do. 


LIFE    or    BLACK    HAWK. 


117 


11(4 


We  started  the  next  morning,  after  telling  oui*  peo- 
ple that  news  had  just  come  from  Mil-wa-kec ,  that  a 
chief  of  our  British  futlicr  would  be  there  in  a  few 
days ! 

Finding  that  all  our  plans  were  defeated,  I  told  the 
prophet  that  he  must  go  with  me,  and  we  would  see 
what  could  be  done  with  the  Pottowatomies.  On  our 
arrival  at  Kish-wa-co-kee,  an  express  was  sent  to  the 
Pottowatomie  villages.  The  next  day  a  deputation 
arrived.  I  inquired  if  they  had  corn  in  their  villages  ? 
They  said  they  had  very  litde,  and  could  not  spare 
any  !  I  asked  them  different  questions,  and  received 
unsatisfactory  answers.  This  talk  was  in  the  presence 
of  all  my  people.  I  afterwards  spoke  to  them  pri- 
vately, and  requested  them  to  cume  to  my  lodge  after 
my  people  had  got  to  sleep.  They  came,  and  took 
seats.  I  asked  them  if  they  had  received  any  news 
from  the  lake  from  the  British  ?  They  said  no.  I  in- 
quired if  they  had  heard  that  a  chief  of  our  British 
father  was  coming  to  Mil-wa-kee,  to  bring  us  ^uns, 
ammunition,  goods  and  provisions  ?  They  said,  no ! 
I  then  told  them  what  news  had  been  brought  to  me, 
and  requested  them  to  return  to  their  village,  and  tell 
the  chiefs  that  I  wished  to  see  them  and  have  a  talk 
with  them. 

After  this  deputation  started,  I  concluded  to  tell  my 
people,  that  if  the  White  Beaver  came  after  us,  we 
would  go  back — as  it  was  useless  to  think  of  stopping 
01  going  on  without  provisions.     I  discovered  that  the 


2l 


f 


II 
I: 


i; 


118 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


Winnebagoes  and  Pottowatomies  were  not  disposed  to 
render  us  any  assistance.  The  next  day,  the  Potto- 
wattomie  chiefs  arrived  at  my  camp.  I  had  a  dog 
killed,  and  made  a  feast.  When  it  was  ready,  I 
spread  my  medicine  bags,  and  the  chiefs  began  to  eat. 
When  the  ceremony  was  about  ending,  I  received 
jiews.  that  three  or  four  hundred  white  men,  on  horse- 
bi  ok,  had  been  seen  about  eight  miles  off.  I  imme- 
diately started  three  young  men,  with  a  white  flag,  to 
meet  them,  and  conduct  them  to  our  camp,  that  we 
might  hold  a  council  with  them,  and  descend  Rock 
river  again.  And  directed  them,  in  case  the  whites 
had  encamped,  to  return,  and  I  would  go  and  see  them. 
After  this  party  had  started,  I  sent  five  young  men 
to  see  what  might  take  place.  The  first  party  went  to 
the  encampment  of  the  whites,  and  were  taken  prison- 
ers. The  last  party  had  not  proceeded  far,  before 
they  saw  about  twenty  men  coming  towards  them  in 
full  gallop  !  They  stopped,  and  finding  that  the  whites 
were  coming  so  fast,  in  a  warlike  attitude,  they  turned 
and  retreated;  but  were  pursued,  and  two  of  them  over- 
taken and  Tcilhdl  The  others  made  their  escape. 
When  they  came  in  with  the  news,  I  was  preparing  my 
jiags  to  meet  the  war  chief.  The  alarm  was  given. 
Nearly  all  my  young  men  were  absent,  about  ten  miles 
gS.  1  started  with  what  I  had  left,  (about /or^y,)  and 
had  proceeded  but  a  short  distance,  before  we  saw  a 
part  of  the  army  approaching.  I  raised  a  yell,  and  said 
to  my  braves  : — "  Some  of  our  people  have  been  killed ! 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


119 


:||U> 


— wantonly  and  cruelly  murdered  !    We  must  revenge 
their  death  !" 

In  a  little  while  we  discovered  the  whole  army 
coming  towards  us  in  full  gallop !  We  were  now  con- 
fident that  our  first  party  had  been  killed  !  I  immedi- 
ately placed  my  men  in  fi:ont  of  some  bushes,  that  we 
might  have  the  first  fire,  when  they  approached  close 
enough.  They  made  a  halt  some  distance  from  us. 
I  gave  another  yell,  an-i  ordered  my  brave  warriors  to 
charge  upon  them — expecting  that  we  would  all  be 
killed  !  They  did  charge  !  Every  man  rushed  and 
fired,  and  the  enemy  retreated !  in  the  utmost  confu- 
sion and  constei nation,  before  my  little,  but  brave  band 
of  warriors ! 

After  pursuing  the  enemy  some  distance,  I  found  it 
useless  to  follow  them,  as  they  rode  so  fast,  and  re- 
turned to  my  encampment  with  a  few  of  my  braves, 
(about  twenty-five  having  gone  in  pursuit,  of  the  ene- 
my.) I  lighted  my  pipe,  and  sac  down  to  thank  the 
Great  Spirit  for  what  we  had  done.  I  had  not  been 
long  meditating,  when  two  of  the  three  young  men 
I  had  sent  out  with  the  flag  to  meet  the  American  war 
chief,  entered  !  My  astonishment  was  not  greater  than 
my  joy  to  see  them  living  and  w^ell.  I  eagerly  listen- 
ed to  their  story,  which  was  as  follows : 

"When  we  arrived  near  to  the  encampment  of  the 
whites,  a  number  of  them  rushed  out  to  meet  us,  bring- 
ing their  guns  with  them.  They  took  us  into  their 
camp,  where  an  American,  who  spoke  the  Sac  lan- 


.:!i 


M 


>ili 


■■1 


!^»0 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


><d 


guage  a  little,  told  us  that  his  chief  wanted  to  know 
how  we  were — where  we  were  going — where  our 
camp  was — and  where  Black  Hawk  was  ?  We  told 
him  that  we  had  come  to  see  his  chief;  that  our  chief 
had  directed  us  to  conduct  him  to  our  camp,  in  case 
he  had  not  encamped ;  and,  in  that  event,  to  tell  him, 
that  he  [Black  Hawk]  would  come  to  see  him ;  he 
wished  to  hold  a  council  with  him,  as  h*^  had  given  up 
all  intention  of  going  to  vi^ar. 

"  At  the  conclusion  of  this  talk,  a  party  of  white 
men  came  in,  on  horseback.  We  saw  by  their  coun- 
tenances that  something  had  happened.  A  general 
tumult  arose.  They  looked  at  us  with  indignation — 
talked  among  themselves  for  a  moment — when  several 
cocked  their  guns — in  a  second,  they  fired  at  us  in  the 
crowd  ;  our  companion  fell  dead !  We  rushed  through 
the  crowd  and  made  our  escape.  We  remained  in 
ambush  but  a  short  time,  before  we  heard  yelling,  like 
Indians  running  an  enemy.  In  a  little  while  we  saw 
some  of  the  whites  in  full  speed.  One  of  them  came 
near  us.  I  threw  my  tomahawk,  and  struck  him  on 
the  head,  which  brought  him  to  the  ground !  I  ran  to 
him,  and  tvith  his  own  Jcnife,  took  off  his  scalp !  I  took 
his  gun,  mounted  his  horse,  and  took  my  friend  here 
behind  me.  We  turned  to  follow  our  braves,  who 
were  running  the  enemy,  and  had  not  gone  far  before 
we  overtook  a  white  man,  whose  horse  had  mired  in  a 
swamp  1  My  friend  alighted,  and  tomahawked  the 
man,  who  was  apparently  fast  under  his  horse  1     He 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


121 


\Uv 


took  his  scalj),  horse,  and  gun !  By  this  time  our  par- 
ty was  some  distance  ahead.  We  followed  on.  and 
saw  several  white  men  lying  dead  on  the  way.  After 
riding  about  six  miles,  we  met  our  party  returning. 
We  asked  them  how  many  of  our  men  had  been  kill- 
ed }  They  said  none,  after  the  Americans  retreated. 
We  inquired  then,  how  many  whites  had  been  killed  ? 
They  replied,  that  they  did  not  know ;  but  said  we 
will  soon  ascertain,  as  we  must  scalp  them  as  we  go 
back.  On  our  return,  we  found  ien  mfti,  besides  the 
two  we  had  killed  before  we  joined  our  friends.  See- 
ing that  they  did  not  yet  recognize  us,  it  being  dark, 
we  again  asked,  how  many  of  our  braves  had  been  kill- 
ed.'' They  said  ^ve  .'  We  asked,  who  they  were  ? 
They  replied  that  the  first  party  of  three,  who  went 
out  to  meet  the  American  war  chief,  had  all  been 
taken  prisoners,  and  killed  in  the  encampment ;  and 
that  out  of  a  party  of  five,  who  foUov/ed  to  see  the 
meeting  of  the  first  party  and  the  whites,  tivo  had  been 
killed !  We  were  now  certain  that  they  did  not  re- 
cognize us — nor  did  we  tell  them  who  we  were  until 
we  arrived  at  our  camp  !  The  news  of  our  death  had 
reached  it  some  time  before,  and  all  were  surprised  to 
see  us  again  !  " 

The  next  morning  I  told  the  crier  of  my  village  to 
give  notice  that  we  must  go  and  bury  our  dead.  In  a 
little  while  all  were  ready.  A  small  deputation  was 
sent  for  our  absent  warriors,  and  the  remainder  started. 
We  first  disposed  of  our  dead,  and  then  commenced 
11 


;   ,1 


^ 


ii  'I 


»' 


^  m 


■  M  >  J 


122 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


%mm 


an  examination,  in  the  enemy's  deserted  encampment, 
for  plunder.  We  found  arms,  nmmunition,  and  pro- 
visions, all  which  we  were  in  want  of — particularly 
the  latter,  as  we  were  entirely  without.  We  found, 
also,  a  variety  of  saddle-bags^  (which  I  distributed 
among  my  braves,)  and  a  small  quantity  of  ivhisky ! 
and  some  little  barrels  that  had  contained  this  had 
medicine ;  but  they  were  empty  !  I  was  surprised  to 
find  that  the  whites  carried  whisky  with  them,  as  I 
had  understood  that  all  the  pale  faces  belonged  to  the 
temperance  societies ! 

The  enemy's  encampment  was  in  a  skirt  of  woods 
near  a  run,  about  half  a  day's  travel  from  Dixon's 
ferry.  We  attacked  them  in  the  prairie,  with  a 
few  bushes  between  us,  about  sundown,  and  I  ex- 
pected that  my  whole  party  would  be  killed  !  I  never 
was  so  much  surprised,  in  all  the  fighting  I  have 
seen — knowing,  too,  that  the  Americans,  generally, 
shoot  well — as  I  was  to  see  this  army  of  several 
hundreds,  retreating !  without  showing  fight  ! ! 
and  passing  immediately  through  their  encampment. 
I  did  think  that  they  intended  to  halt  here,  as  the 
situation  would  have  forbidden  attack  by  my  party,  if 
their  number  had  not  exceeded  half  mine !  as  we 
would  have  been  compelled  to  take  the  open  prairie, 
whilst  they  could  have  picked  trees  to  shield  them- 
selves from  our  fire  ! 

Never  was  I  so  much  surprised  in  my  life,  as  I  was 
in  this  attack !     An   army  of  three  or    four  hundred, 


■I 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


123 


HlU 


after  having  learned  that  we  were  suelng  for  peace,  to 
attempt  to  kill  the  flag-bearers  that  had  gone,  unarm- 
ed, to  ask  for  a  meeting  of  the  war  chiefs  of  the  two 
contending  parties  to  hold  a  council,  that  I  might  re- 
turn to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  to  come  for- 
ward, with  a  full  determination  to  demolish  the  few 
braves  I  had  with  me,  to  retreat,  when  they  had  ten 
to  one,  was  unaccountable  to  me.  It  proved  a  differ- 
ent spirit  from  any  I  had  ever  before  seen  among,  the 
pale  faces  I  I  expected  to  see  them  fight  as  the 
Americans  did  with  the  British  during  the  last  war  ! — 
but  they  had  no  such  braves  among  them  ! 

I  had  resolved  upon  giving  up  the  war — and  sent 
^  flag  of  peace  to  the  American  war  chief — expect- 
ing, as  a  matter  of  right,  reason  and  justice,  that  our 
flag  would  he  respected,  (I  have  always  seen  it  so  in 
war  among  the  whites,)  and  a  council  convened,  that 
we  might  explain  our  grievances,  having  been  driven 
from  our  village  the  year  before,  without  being  per- 
mitted to  gather  the  corn  and  provisions  which  our 
women  had  labored  hard  to  cultivate,  and  ask  for 
permission  to  return — thereby  giving  up  all  idea  of 
going  to  war  against  the  whites. 

Yet,  instead  of  this  honorable  course  which  /  have 
always  practised  in  war,  I  was  forced  into  WAR,  with 
about  five  hundred  warriors,  to  contend  against  three 
or  four  thousand! 

The  supplies  that  Ne-a-pope  and  the  prophet  told 
us  about,  and  the  reinforcements  we  were  to  have, 


:l^,' 


I 


hM 


r 
'i 

,1 


:  t  \ 


"l" 


124 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


were  never  more  heard  of;  (and  it  is  but  justice  to  our 
British  father  lo  say,  were  never  promised — his  chief 
having  sent  word  in  lieu  of  the  lies  that  ivere  brought 

to  W2C,  "  FOR  us  TO  REMAIN  AT  PEACE,  AS  WE 
COULD  ACCOMPLISH  NOTHING  BUT  OUR  OWN  RUIN, 
BY    GOING    TO    WAR  !  ") 

What  was  now  to  be  done  ?  It  was  worse  than 
folly  to  turn  back  and  meet  an  enemy  wliere  the  odds 
was  so  much  against  us — and  thereby  sacrifice  our- 
selves, our  wives  and  children,  to  the  fury  of  an  ene- 
my who  had  murdered  some  of  our  brave  and  unarm.- 
cd  warriors,  when  they  were  on  a  mission  to  sue  for 
peace ! 

Having  returned  to  our  encampment,  and  found 
that  all  our  young  men  had  come  in,  I  sent  out  sjnes, 
to  watch  the  movement  of  the  army,  and  commenced 
moving  up  Kish-wa-co-kee,  with  the  balance  of  my 
people.  I  did  not  know  where  to  go  to  find  a  place 
of  safety  for  my  women  and  children,  but  expected 
to  find  a  good  harbor  about  the  head  of  Rock  river. 
I  concluded  to  go  there — and  thought  my  best  route 
would  be  to  go  round  the  head  of  Kish-wa-co-kee,  so 
that  the  Americans  would  have  some  difficulty,  if  they 
attempted  to  follow  us. 

On  arriving  at  the  head  of  Kish-wa-co-kee,  I  was 
met  by  a  party  of  Winnebagoes,  who  seemed  to  re- 
joice at  our  success.  They  said  they  had  come  to 
offer  their  services,  and  were  anxious  to  join  us.  I 
asked  them  if  they  knew   where   there  was   a   safe 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


125 


*l|i^* 


place  for  my  women  and  children.  They  told  me 
that  they  would  send  two  old  men  with  us  to  guide  us 
to  a  good  and  safe  place. 

I  arranged  war  parties  to  send  out  in  different 
directions,  before  I  proceeded  further.  The  Win- 
nebagoes  went  alone.  The  war  parties  having  all 
been  fitted  out  and  started,  we  commenced  moving 
to  the  Four  Lakes,  the  place  where  our  guides 
were  to  conduct  us.  We  had  not  gone  far,  before 
six  Winnebagoes  came  in  with  one  scalp  !  They 
said  they  had  killed  a  man  at  a  grove,  on  the  road 
from  Dixon's  to  the  lead  mines.  Four  days  after, 
the  party  of  Winnebagoes  who  had  gone  out  from  the 
head  of  Kish-wa-co-kee,  overtook  us,  and  told  me 
that  they  had  killed  four  men,  and  taken  their  scalps ; 
and  that  one  of  them  was  Ke-o-kuck's  father,  (the 
ageiit.)  They  proposed  to  have  a  dance  over  their 
scalps  !  I  told  them  that  I  could  have  no  dancing  in 
my  camp,  in  consequence  of  my  having  lost  three 
young  braves;  but  they  might  dance  in  their  own 
camp — which  they  did. 

Two  days  after,  we  arrived  in  safety  at  the  place 
where  the  Winnebagoes  had  directed  us.  In  a  few 
days  a  great  number  of  our  warriors  came  in.  I  call- 
ed them  all  around  me,  and  addressed  them.  I 
told  them,  "  Now  is  the  time,  if  any  of  you  wish 
to  come  into  distinction,  and  be  honored  with  the 
medicine  bag !  Now  is  the  time  to  show  your 
courage  and  bravery,  and  avenge  the  murder  of  our 

three  braves ! " 
11# 


•I:     i 


*       I 


I 


120 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


Several  small  parties  went  out,  and  returned  again 
in  a  few  days,  with  success — bringing  in  provision 
for  our  j)eople.  In  the  mean  time,  some  spies  came 
in,  and  reported  that  die  army  had  fallen  back  to 
Dixon's  ferry ;  and  others  brought  news  that  the 
horsemen  had  broken  up  their  camp,  disbanded,  and 
returned  home. 

Finding  that  all  was  safe,  I  made  a  dog  feast,  pre- 
paratory to  leaving  my  camp  with  a  large  party,  (as 
the  enemy  were  stationed  so  far  off.)  Before  my 
braves  commenced  feasting,  I  took  my  medicine  lags, 
and  addressed  them  in  the  following  language  : 

"  Braves  and  Warriors : — These  are  the  medi- 
cine bags  of  our  forefadier,  Muk-a-ta-quet,  who  was 
the  father  of  the  Sac  nation.  They  were  handed 
down  to  the  great  war  chief  of  our  nation,  Na-na- 
ma-kee,  who  has  been  at  war  with  all  the  nations  of 
the  lakes  and  all  the  nations  of  die  plains,  and  have 
never  yet  been  disgraced !  I  expect  you  all  to  pro- 
tect them ! " 

After  die  ceremony  was  over,  and  our  feasdng 
done,  I  started  with  about  two  hundred  warriors, 
following  my  great  medicine  bags  !  I  directed  my 
course  towards  sunset,  and  dreamed,  the  second 
night  after  we  started,  that  there  was  a  great  feast 
for  us  after  one  day's  travel !  I  told  my  warriors 
my  dream  in  the  morning,  and  we  all  started  for  Mos- 
co-ho-co-y-nak,  [Apple  river.]  When  we  arrived  in 
the    vicinity  of  a   fort   the  white    people   had    built 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


127 


there,  we  saw  four  men  on  horseback.  One  of  my 
braves  fired  and  wounded  a  man,  when  the  others  set 
up  a  yell,  as  if  a  large  force  were  near  and  ready  to 
come  against  us.  We  concealed  ourselves,  and  re- 
mained in  this  position  for  some  time,  watching  to  see 
the  enemy  approach — ^but  none  came.  The  four 
men,  in  the  mean  time,  ran  to  the  fort  and  gave  the 
alarm.  We  followed  them,  and  attacked  their  fort ! 
One  of  their  braves,  who  seemed  more  valiant  than 
the  rest,  raised  his  head  above  the  picketing  to  fire  at 
us,  when  one  of  my  braves,  with  a  well  directed  shot, 
put  an  end  to  his  bravery  !  Finding  that  these  peo- 
ple could  not  all  be  killed,  without  setting  fire  to  their 
houses  and  fort,  I  thought  it  more  prudent  to  be  con- 
tent with  what  flour,  provisions,  cattle  and  horses  we 
could  find,  than  to  set  fire  to  their  buildings,  as  the 
light  would  be  seen  at  a  distance,  and  the  army  might 
suppose  that  we  were  in  the  neighborhood,  and  come 
upon  us  with  a  force  too  strong.  Accordingly,  we 
opened  a  house  and  filled  our  bags  with  flour  and  pro- 
visions— took  several  horses,  and  drove  off  some  of 
their  cattle. 

We  started  in  a  direction  towards  sunrise.  After 
marching  a  considerable  time,  I  discovered  some  white 
men  coming  towards  us.  I  told  my  braves  that  we 
would  get  into  the  woods  and  kill  them  when  they  ap- 
proached. We  concealed  ourselves  until  they  came 
near  enough,  and  then  commenced  yelling  and  firing, 
and  made  a  rush  upon  them.  About  this  time,  their 
chief,  with  a  party  of  men,  rushed  up  to  rescue  the 


I's 


w 


128 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK.- 


men  we  nad  fired  upon.  In  a  little  while  tliey  coni- 
menceil  retreating,  and  left  their  chief  and  a  few 
braves,  wiio  seemed  willing  and  anxious  to  fight ! 
They  acted  like  braves,  but  were  forced  to  give  way 
when  I  rushed  upon  them  with  my  braves.  In  a 
short  time  the  chief  returned  with  a  larger  party.  He 
seemed  determined  to  figlit,  and  anxious  for  a  batde  ! 
When  he  came  near  enough,  I  raised  the  yell,  and 
firing  commenced  from  both  sides.  The  chief  (who 
seemed  to  be  a  small  man)  addressed  his  warriors  in 
a  loud  voice  ;  but  diey  soon  retreated,  leaving  him 
and  a  few  braves  on  the  battle-field.  A  great  number 
of  my  warriors  pursued  the  retreating  party,  and  killed 
a  number  of  Uieir  horses  as  they  ran.  The  chief  and 
his  few  braves  were  unwilling  to  leave  the  field.  I 
ordered  my  braves  to  rush  upon  them,  and  had  the 
mortification  of  seeing  two  of  my  chiefs  killed,  before 
the  enemy  retreated. 

This  young  chief  deserves  great  praise  for  his  cour- 
age and  bravery  ;  but  fortunately  for  us,  his  army  was 
not  all  composed  of  such  brave  men  ! 

During  this  attack,  we  killed  several  men  and  about 
forty  horses,  and  lost  two  young  chiefs  and  seven  war- 
riors. My  braves  were  anxious  to  pursue  them  to  the 
fort,  attack,  and  burn  it.  But  I  told  them  that  it  was 
useless  to  waste  our  powder,  as  there  was  no  possible 
chance  of  success  if  we  did  attack  them — and  that,  as 
we  had  run  the  bear  into  his  hole,  we  would  there 
leave  him,  and  return  to  our  camp. 

On  arriving  at  our  encampment,  we  found  that  sev- 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


129 


\u 


eral  parties  of  our  sjnes  had  returned,  bringing  intelli- 
gence that  the  army  liad  commenced  moving.  An- 
other party  o(  five  came  in  and  said  they  had  been 
pursued  for  several  hours,  and  were  attacked  by  twen- 
ty-five or  thirty  whites  in  the  woods ;  that  the  whites 
rushed  in  upon  them,  as  they  lay  concealed,  and  re- 
ceived their  fire,  without  seeing  them.  Tiiey  imme- 
diately retreated,  whilst  we  reloaded.  They  entered 
the  tliicket  again,  and  as  soon  as  they  came  near 
enough,  we  fired  !  Again  tiiey  retreated,  and  again 
they  rushed  into  the  thicket  and  fired  !  We  returned 
their  fire,  and  a  skirmish  ensued  between  two  of  their 
men  and  one  of  ours,  who  was  killed  by  having  his 
throat  cut !  This  was  the  only  man  we  lost.  The 
enemy  having  had  three  killed,  they  again  retreated. 

Another  party  of  three  Sacs  had  come  in,  and 
brought  in  two  young  white  squaws,  whom  they  had 
given  to  the  Winnebagoes,  to  take  to  the  whites. 
They  said  they  had  joined  a  party  of  Pottowatomies, 
and  went  with  them  as  a  war  party,  against  the  settlers 
on  the  Illinois. 

The  leader  of  this  party,  a  Pottowatomie,  had  been 
severely  whipped  by  this  settler,  some  time  before, 
and  was  anxious  to  avenge  the  insult  and  injury. 
While  the  party  was  preparing  to  start,  a  young  Potto- 
watomie went  to  the  settler's  house,  and  told  him  to 
leave  it — that  a  war  party  was  coming  to  murder  them. 
They  started,  but  soon  returned  again,  as  it  appeared 
that  they  were  all  there  when  the  war  party  arrived  ! 


't.i 


130 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


The  Pottowatomies  killed  the  whole  family,  except 
two  young  squaws,  whom  the  Sacs  took  up  on  their 
horses,  and  carried  off,  to  save  their  lives. — They 
were  brought  to  our  encampment,  and  a  messenger 
sent  to  the  Winnebagoes,  as  they  were  friendly  on 
both  sides,  to  come  and  get  them,  and  carry  them  to 
the  whites.  If  these  young  men  belonging  to  my 
band,  had  not  gone  with  the  Pottowatomies,  the  two 
young  squaws  would  have  shared  the  same  fate  as 
their  friends. 

During  our  encampment  at  the  Four  Lakes,  we 
were  hard  put  to,  to  obtain  enough  to  eat  to  support 
nature.  Situate  in  a  swampy,  marshy  country,  (which 
had  been  selected  in  consequence  of  the  great  difficul- 
ty required  to  gain  access  thereto,)  there  was  but  lit- 
tle game  of  any  sort  to  be  found — and  fish  were 
equally  scarce.  The  great  distance  to  any  settlement, 
and  the  impossibility  of  bringing  supplies  therefrom,  if 
any  could  have  been  obtained,  deterred  our  young  men 
from  making  further  attempts.  We  were  forced  to  dig 
roots  and  bark  trees,  to  obtain  something  to  satisfy 
hunger  and  keep  us  alive  !  Several  of  our  old  peo- 
ple became  so  much  reduced,  as  actually  to  die  with 
hunger!  And,  finding  that  the  army  had  commenced 
moving,  and  fearing  that  they  might  come  upon  and 
surround  our  encampment,  I  concluded  to  remove 
my  women  and  children  across  the  Mississippi,  that 
they  might  return  to  the  Sac  nation  again.  Accord- 
ingly, on  the  next  day,  we  commenced  moving,  witli 


LIF£    OV    BLACK    IlAWK. 


131 


IH4 


tivo  VVinncbagoos  acting  as  our  guides,  inleiiding  to 
descend  the  Ouisconsin. 

Nc-a-})opc,  with  a  [)ai'ty  of  twonty,  remained  in  our 
rear,  to  watch  for  the  enemy,  vviiiUt  we  were  proceed- 
ing to  the  Ouisconsin,  with  our  women  and  chilihen. 
We  arrived,  and  iiad  commenced  crossing  them  to  an 
island,  when  we  discovered  a  huge  body  of  the  enemy 
coming  towards  us.  We  were  now  compelled  to  light, 
or  sacrifice  our  wives  and  children  to  the  fury  of  the 
whites !  I  met  them  widi  fifty  warriors,  (having  left 
the  balance  to  assist  our  women  and  children  in  cross- 
ing,) about  a  mile  from  the  river,  when  an  attack  im- 
mediately commenced.  1  was  mounted  on  a  fine 
horse,  and  was  pleased  to  see  my  warriors  so  brave. 
1  addressed  them  in  a  loud  voice,  telling  them  to  stand 
their  ground,  and  never  yield  it  to  the  enemy.  At 
this  time  I  was  on  the  rise  of  a  hill,  where  I  wished  to 
form  my  warriors,  ihat  we  might  have  some  advantage 
over  the  whites.  But  the  enemy  succeeded  in  gain- 
ing this  point,  which  compelled  us  to  fall  back  into  a 
deep  ravine,  from  which  we  continued  firing  at  them 
and  they  at  us,  until  it  began  to  grow  dark.  My 
horse  having  been  wounded  twice  during  this  engage- 
ment, and  fearing  from  his  loss  of  blood,  that  he  would 
soon  give  out — and  finding  that  the  enemy  would  not 
come  near  enough  to  receive  our  fire,  in  the  dusk  of 
the  evening — and  knowing  that  our  women  and  chil- 
dren had  had  sufficient  time  to  reach  the  island  in  the 
Ouisconsin,  I  ordered  my  warriors  to  return,  in  difFer- 


■V  ■ 


ii 


€ 


:! 


132 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


\\' 


ent  routes,  and  meet  me  at  the  Ouisconsin — and  were 
astonished  to  find  that  the  enemy  were  not  disposed  to 
pursue  us. 

In  this  skirmish,  with  fifty  braves,  I  defended  and 
accomplished  my  passage  over  the  Ouisconsin,  with  a 
loss  of  only  six  men  ;  though,  opposed  by  a  host  of 
mountexl  militia.  I  would  not  have  fought  there,  but 
to  gain  time  for  my  women  and  children  to  cross  to  an 
island.  A  wai^rior  will  duly  appreciate  the  embarrass- 
ments I  labored  under — and  whatever  may  be  the  sen- 
timents of  the  white  people,  in  relation  to  this  battle, 
my  nation,  though  fallen,  will  award  to  me  the  repu- 
tation of  a  great  brave,  in  conducting  it. 

The  loss  of  the  enemy  could  not  be  ascertained  by 
our  party ,  but  I  am  of  opinion,  that  it  v/as  much 
greater,  in  proportion,  than  mine.  We  returned  to  the 
Ouisconsin,  and  crossed  over  to  our  people. 

Here  some  of  my  people  ieft  me,  and  descended 
the  Ouisconsin,  hoping  to  escape  to  the  west  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  that  they  might  return  home. 
I  had  no  objection  to  their  leaving  me,  as  my  people 
were  all  in  a  desperate  condition — being  wor.i  out 
with  travelling,  and  starving  from  liunger.  Our  only 
hope  to  save  ourselves,  was  ;o  get  across  the 
Mississippi.  But  few  cf  this  party  escaped.  Unfor- 
tunately for  them,  a  party  of  soldiers  from  Prairie  du 
Chien,  was  staiioned  on  the  Ouisconsin,  a  short  distance 
from  its  mouth,  who  fired  upon  our  distressed  people. 
Some  were  killed,  others  drowned^  several  taken  pris- 


* 


■^ 


tlFfi    OF   BLACK   HAWK. 


133 


oners,  and  the  balance  escaped  to  the  woods  and  per- 
ished with  hunger.  Among  this  party  were  a  great 
many  women  and  children. 

I  was  astonished  to  find  that  Ne-a-pope  and  his  party 
o{  svies  had  not  yet  come  in — they  having  been  left  in 
my  rear  to  bring  the  news,  if  the  enemy  were  discov- 
ered. It  appeared,  howey3r,  that  the  whites  had  come 
in  a  different  direction,  and  intercepted  our  trail  but  a 
short  distance  (i:om  the  place  where  we  first  saw 
them — leaving  our  vpies  considerably  in  the  rear.  Ne- 
a-pope,  and  one  other,  retired  to  the  Winnebago  vil- 
lage, and  there  remained  during  the  war !  The  bal- 
ance of  his  party,  being  brave  men,  and  considering 
our  interest  as  their  own,  returned,  and  joined  our 
ranks. 

Myself  and  band  having  no  means  to  descend  the 
Ouisconsin,  I  started,  over  a  rugged  country,  to  go  to 
the  Mississippi,  intending  to  cross  it,  and  return  to  my 
nation.  Many  of  our  people  were  compelled  to  go  on 
foot,  fur  want  of  horses,  which,  in  consequence  of  their 
having  had  nothing  to  eat  for  a  long  time,  cause<^  our 
march  to  be  very  slov  .  At  length  we  arrived  at  the 
Mississippi,  having  lost  some  of  our  old  men  and  little 
children,  who  perished  on  the  way  with  hunger. 

We  had  been  here  but  a  little  while,  before  we  saw 
a  steam  boat  (the  "Warrior,")  coming.  I  told  my 
braves  not  to  shoot,  as  I  intended  going  on  board,  so 
that  we  might  save  our  women  and  children,  I  knew 
the  captain,  [Throckmorton,]  and  was  determined  to 

12 


•  Hi 
'  i 


■  r  ■ 


m 


f 


">* 


'  i 


134 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


I: 


«! 


give  myself  up  to  him.  I  then  sent  for  my  luhi^^flag. 
V/hile  the  messenger  was  gone,  I  took  a  small  piece  of 
white  cotton,  and  put  it  on  a  pole,  and  called  to  the 
captain  of  the  boat,  and  told  him  to  send  his  little  canoe 
ashore,  and  let  me  come  on  board.  The  people  on  the 
boat  asked  whether  we  Vv^ere  Sacs  or  Winnebagoes.  I 
told  a  Winnebago  to  tell  them  that  we  were  Sacs,  and 
wanted  to  give  ourselves  up  !  A  Winnebago  on  the 
boat  called  to  us  "  to  run  and  hide,  that  the  whites  were 
going  to  shoot  r"*  About  this  time  one  of  my  braves 
had  jumped  into  the  river,  bearing  a  white  flag  to  the 
boat — when  another  sprang  in  after  him,  and  brr  v>-ht 
him  to  shore.  The  firing  then  cuuimenced  L'.li  .i,e 
boat,  which  was  returned  by  my  braves,  and  continued 
for  some  time.  Very  few  of  my  people  were  hurt 
after  the  first  fire,  having  succeeded  in  getting  behind 
old  logs  and  trees,  which  shielded  them  from  the  ene- 
my's fire. 

The  Winnebago,  on  the  steam  boat,  must  either 
have  misunderstood  what  was  told,  or  did  not  tell  it  to 
the  captain  correctly ;  because  I  am  confident  that  he 
would  not  have  fired  upon  us,  if  he  had  known  my 
wishes.  I  have  always  considered  him  a  good  man, 
and  too  great  a  brave  to  fire  upon  an  enemy  when 
sueing  for  quarters. 

After  the  boat  left  us,  I  told  my  people  to  cross,  if 
they  could,  and  wished :  that  I  intended  going  into  the 
Chippewa  country.  Some  commenced  crossing,  a;  1 
such  as  had  determined  to  follow  them,  remained— 


;■!■ 


"IP'M.'"''!  ■'■4',  i^H^  'V-f 


"TT'^  }-^V^' 


LIFE    OP   BLACK    HAWK. 


135 


i( 


only  three  lodrres  going  with  me.  Next  morning,  at 
daybreak,  a  young  man  overtook  me,  and  said  that  all 
my  party  had  determined  to  cross  the  Mississippi — 
that  a  number  had  already  got  over  safe,  and  that  he 
had  heard  the  white  army  la:>t  night  within  a  few  miles 
of  them.  I  now  began  to  fear  that  the  whites  would 
come  up  with  my  people,  and  kill  them,  before  they 
could  get  across.  I  had  determined  to  go  and  join 
the  Chippewas ;  but  reflecting  that  by  this  I  could  only 
save  myself,  I  concluded  to  return,  and  die  with  my 
people,  if  the  Great  Spirit  would  not  give  us  another 
victory !  During  our  stay  in  the  thicket,  a  party  of 
whites  came  close  by  us,  but  passed  on  without  discov- 
ering us ! 

Early  in  the  morning  a  party  of  whites,  being  in  ad- 
vance rtf  the  army,  came  upon  our  people,  who  were 
attempting  to  cross  the  Mississippi.  They  tried  to  give 
themselves  up — the  whites  paid  no  attention  to  their 
entreaties — ^but  commenced  slaughtering  them  !  In  a 
little  while  the  whole  army  arrived.  Our  braves, 
but  few  in  number,  finding  that  the  enemy  paid  no 
regard  to  age  or  sex,  and  seeing  that  they  were  mur- 
dering helpless  women  and  little  children,  determined 
io fight  until  they  were  killed!  As  many  women  as 
could,  commenced  swimming  the  Mississippi,  with 
their  children  on  their  backs.  A  number  of  them  were 
drowned,  and  some  shot,  before  they  could  reach  the 
opposite  shore. 

One  of  my  braves,  who  gave  me  this  information, 


i 

'Hi 

vli; 

■  -->  I. 


.11 


I 


136 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


piled  up  some  saddles  before  liim,  (when  the  fight  com- 
nienced,)  to  shield  himself  from  the  enemy's  fire,  and 
killed  three  white  men !  But  seeing  that  the  whites 
were  coming  too  close  to  him,  he  crawled  to  the  bank 
of  the  river,  without  being  perceived,  and  hid  himself 
under  it,  until  the  enemy  retired.  He  then  cafne  to 
me  and  told  me  what  had  been  done.  After  hearing 
this  sorrowful  news,  I  started,  with  ray  litde  party,  to 
the  Winnebago  village  at  Prairie  La  Cross.  On  my 
arrivL  ^^^^^'-e,  I  entered  the  lodge  of  one  of  the  chiefs, 
and  toll  ,m  that  I  wished  him  to  go  with  me  to  his 
father — that  I  intended  to  give  myself  up  to  the  Amer- 
ican war  chief,  and  f/te,  if  the  Great  Spirit  saw  proper  ! 
He  said  he  would  go  with  me.  I  then  took  my  medi- 
cine lag,  and  addressed  the  chief.  I  told  him  that  it 
w^as  "  the  soul  of  the  Sac  nation — that  it  never  had 
been  dishonored  in  any  battle — take  it,  it  is  my  life — 
dearer  than  life — and  give  it  to  the  American  chief!'' 
He  said  he  would  keep  it,  and  take  care  of  it,  and  if  I 
was  suffered  to  live,  he  would  send  it  to  me. 

During  my  stay  at  the  village,  the  squaws  made  me 
a  white  dress  of  deer  skin.  I  then  started,  with  sever- 
al Winnebagoes,  and  went  to  their  agent,  at  Prairie  du 
Chien,  and  gave  myself  up. 

On  my  arrival  there,  I  found  to  my  sorrow,  that  a 
large  body  of  Sioux  had  pursued,  and  killed,  a  number 
of  our  women  and  children,  who  had  got  safely  across 
the  Mississippi.  The  whites  ought  not  to  have  permit- 
ted such  conduct — and  none  but  cowards  would  ever 


^ 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


137 


i^ 


have  been  guilty  of  such  cruelty — which  has  always 
been  practised  on  our  nation  by  the  Sioux. 

The  massacre,  which  terminated  the  war,  lasted 
about  two  hours.  Our  loss  in  killed,  was  about  sixty, 
besides  a  number  that  were  drowned.  The  loss  of  the 
enemy  could  not  be  ascertained  by  my  braves,  exactly ; 
but  they  think  that  they  killed  about  sixteen,  during 
the  action. 

I  was  now  given  up  by  the  agent  to  the  command- 
ing officer  at  fort  Crawford,  (the  White  Beaver  having 
gone  down  the  river.)  We  remained  here  a  short 
time,  and  then  started  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  in  a 
steam  boat,  under  the  charge  of  a  young  war  chief, 
[Lieut.  Jefferson  Davis]  who  treated  us  all  with  much 
kindness.  He  is  a  good  and  brave  young  chief,  with 
whose  conduct  I  was  much  pleased.  On  our  way 
down,  we  called  at  Galena,  and  remained  a  short  time. 
The  people  crowded  to  the  boat  to  see  us  ;  but  the  war 
chief  would  not  permit  them  to  enter  the  apartment 
where  we  were — -knowing,  from  what  his  own  feelings 
would  have  been,  if  he  had  been  placed  in  a  similar 
situation,  that  we  did  not  wish  to  have  a  gaping  crowd 
around  us. 

We  passed  Rock  Island,  without  stopping.  The 
great  war  chief,  [Gen.  Scott,]  who  was  then  at  fort 
Armstrong,  came  out  in  a  small  boat  to  see  us ;  but  the 
captain  of  the  steam  boat  would  not  allow  any  body 
from  the  fort  to  come  on  board  of  his  boat,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  cholera  raging  among  the  soldiers.     I 


ii 


ill 


\i 


138 


LIFE   OF    BLACK    lUWK. 


did  tliink  that  the  captain  ought  to  have  permitted  the 
war  chief  to  coine  on  board  to  see  me,  because  I  could 
see  no  danger  to  be  apprehended  by  it.  The  war 
chief  looked  well,  and  I  have  since  heard,  was  con- 
stantly among  his  soldiers,  who  were  sick  and  dying, 
administering  to  their  wants,  and  had  not  caught  the 
disease  from  them — and  I  thought  it  absurd  to  think 
that  any  of  the  people  on  the  steam  boat,  could  be 
afraid  of  catching  the  disease  from  a  well  man.  But 
these  people  have  not  got  bravery  like  war  chiefs,  who 
never jTcrt/'  any  thing! 

On  our  way  down,  I  surveyed  the  country  that  had 
cost  us  so  much  trouble,  anxiety,  and  blood,  and  that 
now  caused  me  to  be  a  prisoner  of  war.  I  reflected 
upon  the  ingratitude  of  the  whites,  when  I  saw  their 
fine  houses,  rich  harvests,  and  every  tiling  desirable 
around  them ;  and  recollected  that  all  this  land  had 
been  ours,  for  which  me  and  my  people  had  never  re- 
ceived a  dollar,  and  diat  the  whites  were  not  satisfied 
until  they  took  our  village  and  our  grave-yards  from 
us,  and  removed  us  across  the  Mississippi. 

On  our  arrival  at  Jefferson  barracks,  we  met  the 
great  war  chief,  [White  Beaver,]  who  had  command- 
ed the  American  army  against  my  little  band.  I  felt 
the  humiliation  of  my  situation :  a  little  while  before, 
I  had  been  the  leader  of  my  braves,  now  I  was  a  pris- 
oner of  war !  but  had  surrendered  myself.  He  re- 
ceived us  kindly,  and  treated  us  well. 

We  were  now  confined  to  the  barracks,  and  forced 


^w^ 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


139 


iv 


to  wear  the  hall  and  chain !  This  was  extremely  mor- 
tifying, and  altogether  useless.  Was  the  White 
Beaver  afraid  that  I  would  break  out  of  his  barracks, 
and  run  away  ?  Or  was  he  ordered  to  inflict  this  pun- 
ishment upon  me  ?  If  I  had  taken  him  prisoner  on  il  'i 
field  of  battle,  I  would  not  have  wounded  his  feelings 
so  niuch,  by  such  treatment — knowing  that  a  brave 
war  chief  would  prefer  death  to  dishonor!  But  I  do 
not  blame  the  White  Beaver  for  the  course  he  pursued 
— it  is  the  custom  among  white  soldiers,  and,  I  suppose, 
was  a  part  of  his  duty. 

The  time  dragged  heavily  and  gloomily  along  through- 
out the  winter^  although  the  White  Beaver  done  every 
thing  in  his  power  to  render  us  comfortable.  Having 
been  accustomed,  throughout  a  long  life,  to  roam  the 
forests  o'er — to  go  and  come  at  liberty — confinement, 
and  under  such  circumstances,  could  not  be  less  than 
torture ! 

We  passed  away  the  time  making  pipes,  until  spring, 
when  we  were  visited  by  the  agent,  trader,  and  inter- 
preter, from  Rock  Island,  Ke-o-kuck,  and  several  chiefs 
and  braves  of  our  nation,  and  my  wife  and  daughter, 
I  was  rejoiced  to  see  the  two  latter,  and  spent  my  time 
very  agreeably  with  them  and  my  people,  as  long  as 
they  remained. 

The  trader  presented  me  with  some  dried  venison, 
which  had  been  killed  and  cured  by  some  of  my 
friends.  This  was  a  valuable  present ;  and  although 
he  had  given  me  many  before,  none  ever  pleased  me 


,|- 


m 


in 


I  ' 


i;, ' 


140 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK, 


SO  much.  This  was  tlie  first  meat  I  had  eaten  for  a 
long  time,  that  reminded  me  of  the  former  pleasures  of 
my  own  wigwam,  which  had  always  been  stored  with 
plenty. 

Ke-o-kuck  and  his  chiefs,  during  their  stay  at  the 
barracks,  petitioned  our  Great  Father,  the  president,  to 
release  us ;  and  pledged  themselves  for  our  good  con- 
duct. I  now  began  to  hope  that  I  would  soon  be  re- 
stored to  liberty,  and  the  enjoyment  of  my  family  and 
friends  ;  having  heard  that  Ke-o-kuck  stood  high  in  the 
estimation  of  our  Great  Father,  because  he  did  not  join 
me  in  the  war.  But  I  was  soon  disappointed  in  my 
hopes.  An  order  came  from  our  Great  Father  to  the 
White  Beaver,  to  send  us  on  to  Washington. 

In  a  little  while  all  were  ready,  and  left  Jefferson 
barracks  on  board  of  a  steam  boat,  under  charge  of  a 
young  war  chief,  whom  the  White  Beaver  sent  along 
as  a  guide  to  Washington.  He  carried  with  him  an 
interpreter  and  one  soldier.  On  our  way  up  the  Ohio, 
we  passed  several  large  villages,  the  names  of  which 
were  explained  to  me.  The  first  is  called  Louisville, 
and  is  a  very  pretty  village,  situate  on  the  bank  of  the 
Ohio  river.  The  next  is  Cincinnati,  which  stands  on 
the  bank  of  the  same  river.  This  is  a  large  and  beau- 
tiful village,  and  seemed  to  be  in  a  thriving  condition. 
The  people  gathered  on  the  bank  as  we  passed,  in 
great  crowds,  apparently  anxious  to  see  us. 

On  our  arrival  at  Wheeling,  the  streets  and  river's 
banks  were  crowded  with  people,  who  flocked  from 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


141 


every  direction  to  see  us.  While  we  remained  here, 
many  called  upon  us,  and  treated  us  with  kindness — 
no  one  offering  to  molest  or  misuse  us.  This  village 
is  not  so  large  as  either  of  those  before  mentioned,  but 
is  quite  a  pretty  village. 

We  left  the  steam  boat  here,  having  travelled  a  long 
distance  on  the  prettiest  river  (except  our  Mississippi,) 
that  I  ever  saw — and  took  the  stage.  Being  unaccus- 
tomed to  this  mode  of  travelling,  we  soon  got  tired,  and 
wished  ourselves  seated  in  a  canoe  on  one  of  our  own 
rivers,  that  we  might  return  to  our  friends.  We  had 
travelled  but  a  short  distance,  before  our  carriage 
turned  over,  from  which  I  received  a  slight  injury,  and 
the  soldier  had  one  arm  broken.  I  was  sorry  for  this 
accident,  as  the  young  man  had  behaved  well. 

We  had  a  rough  and  mountainous  country  for  seve- 
ral days,  but  had  a  good  trail  for  nnr  carriage.  It  is 
astonishing  to  see  what  labor  and  pains  the  white  peo- 
ple have  had  to  make  this  road,  as  it  passes  over  an 
immense  number  of  mountains,  which  are  generally 
covered  with  rocks  and  timber ,  yet  it  has  been  made 
smooth,  and  easy  to  travel  upon. 

Rough  and  mountainous  as  is  this  country,  there  are 
many  wigwams  and  small  villages  standing  on  the  road 
side.  I  could  see  nothing  in  the  country  to  induce  the 
people  to  live  in  it ;  and  was  astonished  to  find  so  many 
whites  living  on  the  hills ! 

I  have  often  thought  of  them  since  my  return  to  my 
own  people ;  and  am  happy  to  think  that  they  prefer 


m 


I- 


142 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


living  in  their  own  country,  to  conning  out  to  ours^  and 
driving  us  from  it,  that  they  might  live  upon  and 
enjoy  it — as  many  of  the  whites  have  already  doue. 
I  think,  with  them,  that  wherever  the  Great  S[)irit 
places  his  people,  they  ought  to  be  satisfied  to  remain, 
and  thankful  for  what  He  has  given  them  ;  and  not  drive 
others  from  the  country  He  has  given  them,  because  it 
happens  to  be  better  than  theirs !  This  is  contrary  to 
our  way  of  thinking ;  and  from  my  intercourse  with  the 
whites,  I  have  learned  that  one  great  principle  of  their 
religion  is,  "to  do  unto  others  as  you  wish  them 
to  do  unto  you !"  Those  people  in  the  mountains 
seem  to  act  upon  this  principle  ;  but  the  settlers  on  our 
frontiers  and  on  our  lands,  seem  never  to  think  of  it,  if 
we  are  to  judge  by  their  actions. 

The  first  village  of  importance  that  we  came  to,  after 
leaving  the  mountains,  is  called  Hagerstown.  It  is  a 
large  village  to  be  so  far  from  a  river,  and  is  very 
pretty.  The  people  appear  to  live  well,  and  enjoy 
themselves  much. 

We  passed  through  several  small  villages  on  the  way 
to  Fredericktown,  but  I  have  forgotten  their  names. 
This  last  is  a  large  and  beautiful  village.  The  people 
treated  us  well,  as  they  did  at  all  the  other  villages 
where  we  stopped. 

Here  we  came  to  another  road,  much  more  wonder- 
ful than  that  through  the  mountains.  They  call  it  a 
rail  road!  I  examined  it  carefully,  but  need  not 
describe  it,  as  the  whites  know  all  about  it.     It  is  the 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


143 


most  astonishing  sight  I  ever  saw.  The  great  road 
over  the  mountains  will  hear  no  comparison  to  it — 
although  it  has  given  the  white  people  much  trouhle  to 
make.  I  was  surprised  to  see  so  much  lahor  and 
money  expended  to  make  a  good  road  for  easy  travel- 
ling. I  prefer  riding  on  horsehack,  however,  to  any 
other  way  ;  but  suppose  that  these  people  would  not 
havn  gone  to  so  much  trouble  and  expense  to  make  a 
road,  if  they  did  not  prefer  riding  in  their  new  fash- 
ioned carriages,  which  seem  to  run  without  any  trou- 
ble. They  certainly  deserve  great  praise  for  their  in- 
dustry. 

On  our  arrival  at  Washington,  we  called  to  see  our 
Great  Father,  the  President.  He  looks  as  if  he  had 
seen  as  many  winters  as  I  have,  and  seems  to  be  ^ great 
brave !  I  had  very  litde  talk  with  him,  as  he  appeared 
to  be  busy,  and  did  not  seem  much  disposed  to  talk. 
I  think  he  is  a  good  man ;  and  although  he  talked  but 
litde,  he  treated  us  very  well.  His  wigwam  is  well 
furnished  with  every  thing  good  and  pretty,  and  is  very 
strongly  buik. 

He  said  he  wished  to  know  the  cause  of  my  going  to 
war  against  his  white  children.  I  thought  he  ought  to 
have  known  this  before ;  and,  consequently,  said  but 
little  to  him  about  it — as  I  expected  he  knew  as  well 
as  I  could  tell  him. 

He  said  he  wanted  us  to  go  to  fortress  Monroe,  and 
stay  awhile  with  the  \Yar  chief  who  commanded  it. 
But,  having  been  so  long  from  my  people,  I  told  him 


144 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


that  I  would  ratlicr  return  to  my  nation — that  Ke-o- 
kuck  had  come  hero  once  on  a  visit  to  see  him,  as  we 
had  done,  and  he  let  him  return  again,  as  soon  as  he 
wished  ;  and  that  T  expected  to  be  treated  in  the  same 
way.  lie  insisted,  however,  on  our  goinc;  to  fortress 
Monroe  ;  and  as  our  interpreter  could  not  understand 
enough  of  our  language  to  interpret  a  speech,  I  con- 
cluded it  was  best  to  obey  our  Great  Father,  and  say 
nodiing  contrary  to  his  wishes. 

During  our  stay  at  the  city,  we  were  called  upon  by 
many  of  the  people,  who  treated  us  well,  particularly 
the  squaws!  We  viiited  the  great  council  house  of  the 
Americans — the  place  where  they  keep  their  big  guns 
— and  all  the  public  buildings,  and  then  star*  '  to.  for- 
tress Monroe.  The  war  chief  met  us,  on  <  ^rrival, 
and  shook  hands,  and  appeared  glad  to  see  mu.  He 
treated  us  wiUi  great  friendship,  and  talked  to  me  fre- 
quendy.  Previous  to  our  leaving  this  fort,  he  gave  us 
a  feast,  and  ma:leus  some  presents,  which  I  intend  to 
keep  for  his  sake.  He  is  a  very  good  man,  and  a 
great  hravc  !  I  was  sorry  to  leave  him,  allhough  I  was 
j^oing  to  reuirn  to  my  people,  because  he  had  treated 
me  like  a  brother,  during  all  the  time  I  remained  with 
him. 

Having  got  a  new  guide,  a  war  chief,  [Maj.  Gar- 
land,] we  started  for  our  own  country,  taking  a  circui- 
tous route.  Our  Great  Father  being  about  *to  pay  a 
visit  to  his  children  in  the  big  towns  towards  sunrising, 
and  being  desirous  that   we  should  have  an  oppor- 


v.; 


I 


UFE    or   BLACK    HAWK. 


145 


C-0- 

|is  we 

ns  he 
same 
hrtress 
Irstand 
con- 
id  say 


lunity  of  seeing  them,  directed  our  guide  to  take  us 
through. 

On  our  arrival  at  Baltimore,  we  were  much  aston- 
ished to  see  so  large  a  village  ;  but  the  war  chief  told 
us  that  we  would  soon  see  a  larger  one.  This  surpris- 
ed us  more.  During  our  stay  here,  we  visited  all  the 
public  buildings  and  places  of  amusement — saw  much 
to  admire,  and  were  well  entertained  by  the  people, 
who  crowded  to  see  us.  Our  Great  Father  was  there 
at  the  same  time,  and  seemed  to  be  much  liked  by  his 
white  children,  who  flocked  around  him,  (as  they  had 
done  us,)  to  shake  him  by  the  hand.  He  did  not  re- 
main long — having  left  the  city  before  us. 

We  left  Baltimore  in  i  steam  boat,  and  travelled 
in  this  way  to  the  big  village,  where  they  make  medals 
and  money,  [Philadelphia.]  We  again  expressed  sur- 
prise at  finding  this  village  so  much  larger  than  the  one 
we  had  left ;  but  the  war  chief  again  told  us,  that  we 
would  soon  see  another  much  larger  than  this.  I 
had  no  idea  that  the  white  people  had  such  large  vil- 
lages, and  so  many  people.  They  were  very  kind  to 
us — showed  us  all  their  great  public  works,  their  ships 
and  steam  boats.  We  visited  the  place  where  they 
make  money,  [the  mint,]  and  saw  the  men  engaged  at  it. 
They  presented  each  of  us  with  a  number  of  pieces 
of  the  coin  as  they  fell  from  the  mint,  which  are  very 
handsome. 

I  witnessed  a  militia  training  in  this  city,  in  which 
were  performed  a  number  of  singular  military  feats. 
13 


'  '  / 


..:.*■ 


I   " 


146 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


The  chiefs  and  men  were  well  dressv^d,  and  exhibited 
quite  a  warlike  appearance.  I  think  our  system  of 
military  parade  far  better  than  that  of  the  whites — 
but,  as  I  am  now  done  going  to  war,  I  will  not  describe 
it,  or  say  p.ny  thing  more  about  war,  or  the  preparations 
neccbsary  for  it. 

We  next  started  to  New  York,  and  ox\  our  arrival 
near  the  wharll  saw  a  large  collection  of  people  gath- 
ered at  Castle-Garden.  We  had  seen  many  wonder- 
ful sights  in  our  way — -large  villages,  the  great  national 
road  over  the  mountains,  the  rail  roads j  steam  carriages, 
ships,  steam  boats,  and  many  other  things  ;  but  we  were 
now  about  to  witness  a  sight  more  surpri;.ing  than  any 
of  these.  We  were  told  that  a  man  was  going  up  into 
the  air  in  a  balloon  !  Ws  watched  with  anxiety  to  see 
if  it  couid  be  true  ;  and  to  our  utter  astonishment,  saw 
hr.m  ascend  in  the  air  until  the  eye  could  no  longer 
perceive  him.  Our  people  were  all  surprised,  and  on3 
of  our  young  men  asked  the  proj>het  if  he  was  going 
up  to  see  the  Great  Spirit  ? 

After  the  ascension  of  the  balloon,  we  landed,  and 
got  into  a  carriage,  to  go  to  the  house  that  Imc  been 
provided  for  our  reception.  We  had  proceeded  but  a 
short  distance,  before  the  street  was  so  crowded  that  it 
was  impossible  for  the  carriage  to  pass.  The  war  chief 
then  directed  the  coachman  to  take  another  street,  and 
stop  at  a  different  house  from  tl'e  one  he  had  intendeds 
On  our  arrival  here,  we  were  waited  upon  by  a  num- 
ber of  gentlemen,  who  seemed  much  pleased  to  see  us# 


LIFE  OF  BLACK  HAWK. 


147 


We  were  furnished  with  good  rooms,  good  provisions, 
and  every  thing  necessary  for  our  comfort. 

The  chiefs  of  this  big  village,  being  desirous  that  all 
their  people  should  have  an  opportunity  to  see  us, 
fitted  up  their  great  council  house  for  this  purpose, 
where  we  saw  an  immense  number  of  people ;  all  of 
whom  treated  us  with  friendship,  and  many  with  great 
generosity. 

The  chiefs  were  particular  in  showing  us  every  thing 
that  they  thought  would  be  pleasing  or  gratifying  to 
us.  We  went  with  them  to  Castle-Garden  to  see  the 
fireworks,  which  was  quite  an  agreeable  entertainment 
—but  to  the  whites  who  witnessed  it,  less  magnificent 
than  the  sight  of  one  of  our  large  prairies  would  be 
when  on  fire.  '^ 

We  visited  all  the  public  buildings  and  places  of 
amusement,  which  to  us  were  truly  astonishing,  yet 
very  gratifying. 

Every  body  treated  us  with  friendship,  and  many 
with  great  liberality.  The  squaws  presented  us  many 
handsome  little  presents,  that  are  said  to  be  valuable. 
They  were  very  kind,  very  good,  and  very  pretty — for 
palefaces  ! 

Among  the  men  who  treated  us  with  marked 
friendship,  by  the  presentation  of  many  valuable  pres- 
fint3, 1  cannot  omit  to  mention  the  name  of  my  old 
friend  Crooks,  of  the  American  Fur  Company.  I 
have  known  him  long,  and  have  always  found  him  to  be 
a  good  chief — one  who  gives  good  advice,  and  treats 


148 


LIFE    or    BLACK    HAWK. 


our  people  right.  I  shall  always  be  proud  to  recog- 
nize him  as  a  friend,  and  glad  to  shake  him  by  the 
hand. 

Having  seen  all  the  wonders  of  this  big  village j  and 
being  anxious  to  return  to  our  people,  our  guide  started 
with  us  for  our  own  country.  On  arriving  at  Albany, 
the  people  were  so  anxious  to  see  us,  that  they  crowded 
the  street  and  wharves,  where  the  steam  boat  landed, 
so  much,  that  it  was  almost  impossible  for  us  to  pass 
to  the  hotel  which  had  been  provided  for  our  recep- 
tion. 

We  remained  here  but  a  short  time,  and  then  started 
for  Detroit.  I  had  spent  many  pleasant  days  at  this 
place ;  and  anticipated,  on  my  arrival,  to  meet  many 
of  my  old  friends — ^but  in  this  I  was  disappointed. 
What  could  be  the  cause  of  this  ?  Are  they  all  dead  ? 
Or  what  has  become  of  them  ?  I  did  not  see  our  old 
father  there,  who  had  always  gave  me  good  advice,  and 
treated  me  with  friendship. 

After  leaving  Detroit,  it  was  but  a  few  days  before 
we  landed  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  The  war  chief  at  the 
fort  treated  us  very  kindly,  as  did  the  people  generally. 
I  called  on  the  father  of  the  Winnebagoes,  [Gen.  J* 
M.  Street,]  to  whom  I  had  surrendered  myself  after 
the  battle  at  the  Bad  Axe,  who  received  me  very 
friendly.  I  told  him  that  I  had  left  my  great  medicine 
bag  with  his  chiefs  before  I  gave  myself  up ;  and  now, 
that  I  was  to  enjoy  my  liberty  again,  I  was  anxious  to 
get  it,  that  I  might  hand  it  down  to  my  nation  unsullied. 


■d'l 


4 


,lll|>mfl)Liiijii«  . 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


149 


the 


He  said  it  was  safe ;  he  had  heard  his  chiefs  speak 
of  it,  and  would  get  it  and  3?nd  it  to  me,  I  hope  he 
will  not  forget  his  promise,  as  the  whites  generally  do 
— ^because  I  have  always  heard  that  he  was  a  good  man, 
and  a  good  father — and  made  no  promises  that  he  did 
not  fulfil. 

Passing  down  the  Mississippi,  1  discovered  a  large 
collection  of  people  in  the  mining  country,  on  the 
west  side  of  the  river,  and  on  the  ground  that  we  had 
given  to  our  relation,  Dubuq,ue,  a  long  time  ago.  I  was 
surprised  at  this,  as  I  had  understood  from  our  Great 
Father,  that  the  Mississippi  was  to  be  the  dividing  line 
between  his  red  and  white  children,  and  that  he  did 
not  wish  either  to  cross  it.  I  was  much  pleased  with 
this  talk,  as  I  knew  that  it  would  be  much  better  for 
both  parties.  I  have  since  found  the  country  much 
settled  by  the  whites  further  down,  and  near  to  our 
people,  on  the  west  side  of  tlie  river.  I  am  very  much 
afraid,  that  in  a  few  yep  ,  they  will  begin  to  drive  and 
abuse  our  people,  as  they  have  formerly  dcMie.  ^  j^y 
not  live  to  see  it,  but  I  feel  certain  that  the  day  is  not 
distant. 

When  we  arrived  at  Rock  Island,  Ke-o-ki,jk  and 
the  other  chiefs  were  sent  for.  They  ar -ived  the  next 
day  with  a  great  number  of  their  young  men,  and 
came  over  to  see  me.  I  was  pleased  to  sep  t  uera,  and 
they  all  appeared  glad  to  see  me.  Amoi.^  them  were 
some  who  '  I  lost  relations  during  the  war  the  year 
before.  When  we  met,  I  perceived  the  tear  of  sor- 
13* 


u 


150 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWK. 


t'^ 


row  gush  from  their  eyes  at  the  recollection  of  their 
loss  ;  yet  they  exhihited  a  smiling  countenance,  from 
the  joy  they  felt  at  seeing  me  alive  and  well. 

The  next  morning  the  war  chief,  our  guide,  con- 
vened a  council  at  fort  Armstrong.  Ke-o-kuck  and  his 
party  went  to  the  fort ;  but,  in  consequence  of  the  war 
chief  not  having  called  for  me  to  accompany  him,  I 
concluded  that  I  would  wait  until  I  was  sent  for.  Con- 
sequently the  interpreter  came,  and  said,  "  they  were 
ready,  and  had  been  waiting  for  me  to  come  to  tlie 
fort."  I  told  him  I  was  ready,  and  would  accompany 
him.  On  our  arrival  there,  the  council  commenced. 
The  war  chief  said  that  the  object  of  this  council  was 
to  deliver  me  up  to  Ke-o-kuck.  He  then  read  a  paper, 
and  directed  me  to  follovj  Ke-o-kucWs  advice,  and  he 
governed  by  his  counsel  in  all  things !  In  this  speech 
he  said  much  that  was  mortifying  to  my  feelings,  and  I 
made  an  indignant  reply. 

I  do  not  know  what  object  the  war  chief  had  in 
making  such  a  speech,  or  whether  he  intended  what 
he  said ;  but  I  do  know,  that  it  was  uncalled  for,  and 
did  not  become  him.  I  have  addressed  many  war 
chiefs,  and  have  listened  to  their  speeches  with  pleas- 
ure— but  never  had  my  feelings  of  pride  and  honor 
insulted  on  any  former  occasion.  I  am  sorry  that  I 
was  so  hasty  in  reply  to  this  chief,  because  I  said  that 
which  I  did  not  intend. 

In  this  council,  I  met  my  old  friend,  a  great  war 
chief,  [Col.  Wm.  Davenport,]  whom  I  had  known 


P( 


UPE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


151 


about  eighteen  years.  He  is  a  good  and  brave  chief. 
He  always  treated  me  well,  and  gave  me  good  advice. 
He  made  a  speech  to  me  on  this  occasion,  very  differ- 
ent from  that  of  the  other  chief.  It  sounded  like 
coming  from  a  brave!  He  said  he  had  known  me 
a  long  time — that  we  had  been  good  friends  during 
that  acquaintance — and,  although  he  had  fought 
against  my  braves,  in  our  late  war,  he  still  extended 
the  hand  of  friendship  to  me — and  hoped,  that  I  was 
now  satisfied,  from  what  I  had  seen  in  my  travels,  that 
it  was  folly  to  think  of  going  to  war  against  the  whites, 
and  would  ever  remain  at  peace.  He  said  he  would 
be  glad  to  see  me  at  all  times — and  on  all  occasions 
would  be  happy  to  give  me  good  advice. 

If  our  Great  rather  were  to  make  such  rnsn  our 
agents,  he  would  much  better  subserve  the  interests  of 
our  people,  as  well  as  his  own,  than  in  any  other  way. 
The  war  chiefs  all  know  our  people,  and  are  respected 
by  them.  If  the  wrr  chiefs,  at  the  different  military  posts 
on  the  frontiers,  were  made  agents,  they  could  always 
prevent  difficulties  from  arising  among  the  Indians  and 
whites ;  and  I  have  no  doubt,  had  the  war  chief  above 
alluded  to,  been  our  agent,  we  never  would  have  had 
the  difficulties  with  the  whites  which  we  have  liad. 
Our  agents  ought  always  to  be  bravest  I  would, 
therefore,  recommend  to  our  Great  Father,  the  propri- 
ety of  breaking  up  the  present  Indian  establishment, 
and  creating  a  new  one — and  of  making  the  com- 
manding officers,  at  the  different   frontier  posts,  the 


152 


LIFE    OF    BLACK    HAWt. 


■i 


m 


agents  of  the  government  for  the  different  nations  of 
Indians. 

I  have  a  good  opinion  of  the  American  war  chiefs, 
generally,  with  whom  I  am  acquainted  ;  and  my  peo- 
ple, who  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  and  becoming 
well  acquainted  with  the  great  war  chief,  [Gen.  Win- 
field  ScoTT,]  who  made.the  last  treaty  with  them,  in 
conjunction  with  the  great  chief  of  Illinois,  [Gover- 
nor Reynolds,]  all  tell  me  that  he  is  the  greatest  brave 
they  ever  saw,  and  a  good  man — one  who  fulfils  all  his 
promises.  Our  braves  speak  more  highly  of  him,  than 
any  chief  that  has  ever  been  among  us,  or  made  trea- 
ties with  us.  Whatever  he  says,  may  be  depended 
upon.  If  he  had  been  our  Great  Father,  we  never 
would  have  been  compelled  to  join  the  British  in  their 
last  war  with  America — and  I  have  thought  that,  as 
our  Great  Father  is  changed  every  few  years,  that  his 
children  would  do  well  to  put  this  great  war  chief  in 
his  place — as  they  cannot  find  a  better  chief  for  a 
Great  Father  any  where. 

I  would  be  glad  if  the  village  criers,  [editors,]  in  all 
the  villages  I  passed  through,  would  let  their  people 
know  my  wishes  and  opinions  about  this  great  war 
chief. 

During  my  travels,  my  opinions  were  asked  on  dif- 
ferent subjects — but  for  want  of  a  good  interpreter, 
were  very  seldom  given.  Presuming  that  they  would 
be  equally  acceptable  now,  I  have  thought  it  a  part  of 
my  duty,  to  lay  the  most  important  before  the  public. 


M  \ 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


153 


The  subject  of  colonizing  the  negroes  was  intro- 
duced, and  my  opinion  asked,  as  to  the  best  method  of 
getting  clear  of  these  people.  I  was  not  prepared,  at 
the  time,  to  answer — as  I  knew  but  little  about  their 
situation.  1  have  since  made  many  inquiries  on  the 
subject — and  find  that  a  number  of  states  admit  no 
slaves,  whilst  ihe  balance  hold  these  negroes  as  slaves, 
and  are  anxious,  but  do  not  know,  how  to  get  clear  of 
them.  I  will  now  give  my  plan,  which,  when  under- 
stood, I  hope  will  be  adopted. 

Let  the  free  states  remove  all  the  male  negroes 
within  their  limits,  to  the  slave  states — then  let  our 
Great  Father  buy  all  the  female  negroes  in  the  slave 
states,  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  twenty,  and 
sell  them  to  the  people  of  the  free  states,  for  a  term  of 
years — say,  those  under  fifteen,  until  they  are  twenty- 
one — and  those  of,  and  over  fifteen,  for  five  years — 
and  continue  to  buy  all  the  females  in  the  slave  states, 
as  soon  as  they  arrive  at  the  age  of  twelve,  and  take 
them  to  the  free  states,  and  dispose  of  them  in  the  same 
way  as  the  first — and  it  will  not  be  long  before  the 
country  is  clear  of  the  black  skins,  about  which,  I 
am  told,  they  have  been  talking,  for  a  long  time ;  and 
for  which  they  have  expended  a  large  amount  of 
money. 

I  have  no  doubt  but  our  Great  Father  would  wil- 
lingly do  his  part  in  accomplishing  this  object  for  his 
children — as  ho  could  not  lose  much  by  it,  and  would 
make  them  all  happy.     If  the  free  states  did  not  want 


154 


LIFE   OF   BLACK   HAWK. 


'*■'    V 


IS. 


El  i.' 


I'.i 


them  all  for  servants,  we  would  take  the  balance  in  our 
nation  to  help  our  women  make  corn. 

I  have  not  time  now,  nor  is  it  necessary,  to  enter 
more  into  detail  about  my  travels  through  the  United 
States.  The  white  people  know  all  about  them,  and 
my  people  have  started  to  their  hunting  grounds,  and 
I  am  anxious  to  follow  them. 

Before  I  take  leave  of  the  public,  I  must  contradict 
the  story  of  some  village  criers,  who  (I  have  been  told,) 
accuse  me  of  "  having  murdered  women  and  children 
among  the  whites !"  This  assertion  is  false !  1  never 
did,  nor  have  I  any  knowledge  that  any  of  my  nation 
ever  killed  a  white  woman  or  child.  I  make  this  state- 
ment of  truth,  to  satisfy  the  white  people  among  whom 
I  have  been  travelling,  (and  by  whom  I  have  been 
treated  with  great  kindness,)  that,  when  they  shook 
me  by  the  hand  so  cordially,  they  did  not  shake  the 
hand  that  had  ever  been  raised  against  any  but  war- 
riors.  ' 

It  has  always  been  our  custom  to  receive  all  stran- 
gers that  come  to  our  village  or  camps,  in  time  of  peace, 
on  terms  of  friendship — to  share  with  them  the  best  pro- 
visions we  have,  and  give  them  all  the  assistance  in  our 
power.  If  on  a  journey,  or  lost,  to  put  them  on  the 
right  trail,  and  if  in  want  of  mocasins,  to  supply  them.  I 
feel  grateful  to  the  whites  for  the  kind  manner  they 
treated  me  and  my  party  whilst  travelling  among  them — 
and  from  my  heart  I  assure  them,  that  the  white  man 
will  always  be  welcome  in  our  village  or  camps,  as  a 


LIFE    OF   BLACK    HAWK. 


155 


s  in  our 

3  enter 
United 
m,  and 
ds,  and 

itradict 
1  told,) 
ihildren 
[  never 

nation 
is  state- 
;  whom 
e  been 

shook 
ake  the 
Jt  war- 


I 


brother.  The  tomahawk  is  buried  forever !  We  will 
forget  what  has  past — and  may  the  watchword  between 
the  Americans  and  Sacs  and  Foxes,  ever  be — "  Friend- 
ship r^ 

I  am  now  done.  A  few  more  moons  and  I  must 
follow  my  fathers  to  the  shades !  May  the  Great  Spirit 
keep  our  people  and  the  whites  always  at  peace — is 
the  sincere  wish  of 

BLACK  HAWK. 


^ 


i*-« 


1  stran- 
'  peace, 
est  pro- 
B  in  our 
on  the 
hem.  I 
er  they 
them — 
ite  man 
ps,  as  a 


